Bump in the Road
by DeepFriedTwinkies
Summary: Percy and Annabeth have hit a bump in their relationship. (Oh Gods no!) What happens when a new girl comes around? Will they ever be able to patch things up? Or are they done for good? ((This really focuses on Percy and the new girl, Emmy, but there is still some Annabeth drama.))
1. Worst Night Ever

**My goal is to reach 100 reviews, a lot I know. I have decided that the person who posts the 100th review will get to name a character, and what they look like.**

Percy ducked quickly as a bronze knife stabbed the wall where his head just was, "You could have killed me!" He shouted straightening back up glaring at the blonde in front of him. Her stormy eyes burned with fury, a look he hated to be on the receiving end of, "Good!" Percy didn't even remember what he and Annabeth were fighting about, something along the lines of 'not understanding what she was going through'. All at once the anger left her face. "Maybe you should just leave." Her voice was quiet now, full of pain and hurt. Percy liked it better when she was yelling, he didn't feel so guilty or like a bad person. "Are we going to be okay?" He asked his voice almost a whisper. Annabeth couldn't meet his eyes, she just looked down and shook her head, "I don't know. I just think we need some time apart." Percy inhaled sharply, this is the moment he had been dreading for a year. Since the night he finally got the nerve to ask her out. The night he put all of his feelings on the line, not knowing what to expect. Now he stood there looking at the girl he thought he had loved, or maybe still did. Percy didn't know what to think anymore, nothing was as it should be. Focusing on Annabeth's face he saw a tear fighting to leave her eye, but she was too stubborn to let it in front of him. Setting his jaw he nodded, "Alright, call me when you're ready to talk." Percy couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice. With a few quick strides he was out of the door into the cold New York air. It must have been late, the stars bright in the sky, but he didn't care. Percy just needed to sit and collect his thoughts. Placing his head in his hands Percy closed his eyes sitting on the steps leading to the town house Annabeth shared with a few other girls.

"Excuse me?" The voice had a familiar accent but he couldn't place it. Percy jumped and almost fell down the stairs. "Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you so much." He suddenly remembered where he had hear it before, it was the same one Hazel had. It took Percy a moment to place the girl's face. Her hair was black and fell in curls just below her shoulders. Her eyes were unique, green around the pupils and were a rich brown for the rest of the iris. The same color of his mother's kitchen table, the one they ate at every Thanksgiving. The memory made him smile as he looked her over. Her skin was pale, but there wasn't a freckle in sight. Her eyebrows were arched, and stood out against her skin tone. A scar ran through the right one and almost reached her eye, it probably had an interesting story. Finally it hit him, "Oh, hello Emilia." She was one of Annabeth's roommates, they had only met in passing but he still remembered her. "Evening, Percy, and call me Emmy" Her lips turned into a smile and she set down what looked like a brief case. But it was to rectangular and heavy to be one. "What's that?" He asked suddenly not able to control his ADHD. Emmy let out a laugh, "It's a saxophone, just came back from jazz practice." Percy nodded like he understood, but his mind was to focused on Annabeth to truly care. Emmy looked up at her building. "Does Annabeth know you're out here, I can go get her." Her smile remained but based on the look on Percy's face it wasn't going to help. He shook his head causing his black hair to fall into his face, he brushed it away before speaking. "Not needed, we kind of had a fight." A blush appeared on his cheeks as he looked up at her with a forced smile. Emmy sat on the stairs next to him. "I'm sorry, I always thought you two looked cute together. " Percy nodded half-heartedly and continued to focus on his shoes. "What was it about?" Percy looked at her not sure if he could answer. "Oh, sorry not really my place is it." Emmy offered a slight smile. "No, it's alright. I'm actually not entirely sure what it was about." It felt so weird to be talk about this, it was such a normal problem. For the past couple of years he had been dealing with 'Demi-god problems'. Stuff such as, "If you don't get to Rome within 6 days your friend will die in a bronze jar." Or "Your uncle is going to kill you if you don't return his hat." Emmy nodded not asking any further questions. Percy could tell her if he wanted, but she wasn't going to push him.

They both jumped hearing the door behind them open. Annabeth stood in the doorway her arms crossed. "Emmy, I didn't realize you were home. Why don't you come in?" Emmy nodded standing grabbing her case. "Sure thing." She turned to Percy and waved. "See you later, maybe." She cheerfully walked into the door like she didn't notice Annabeth radiating hatred. Emmy closed the door behind her leaving Percy to Annabeth's wrath. She turned to him calmly, too calmly. "I say let's take a break and not an hour later your pulling a move on my roommate?" Her volume rose as she spoke, her fists balled at her side. Percy winced but stood to defend himself, feeling anger rise in him. "I'm sorry for talking to someone! Do you really think I'm like that? You know what, don't call me. I'm done with you!" Percy turned to leave but she grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry." Her voice gave off the sound of pure pain. He didn't look at her; he just yanked his arm away and started walking towards his apartment, already regretting what he said. Emmy watched all of this take place from her window biting her lip. This wasn't going to be pretty; Annabeth was going to be a pain to live with for awhile.


	2. It's Complicated

It had been a week, a week since 'that night'. Percy didn't know what to do with himself. School was boring as always, no matter how hard he tried no one would hire him and now he couldn't see Annabeth in his spare time. Many times he had thought about calling her, but was to stubborn to apologize. Annabeth had the same problem. He let out a sigh as he walked into the local diner, his mom and Paul were going to be away for a week and there was no way he was going to cook. Taking a seat at a booth he started going over the menu. "Evening, Percy." He instantly recognized the voice, one with a slight Louisiana accent. His eyes peaked over the edge of the menu. "Hi." Emmy stood in front of him her unruly hair pulled into a sloppy pony and white apron tied around her waist. In her hands she held a note pad and pen. "What can I get you?" It took Percy a moment to recover from the shock of seeing her. "Um, just a Coke for now." Emmy nodded jotting down a little note on her pad before looking at him again, "Coming right up."  
`

Twenty minutes later Percy was enjoying a burger when Emmy suddenly sat in front of him. He slowed down his chewing looking at her with a raised brow. "So tell me, has Annabeth always been this stubborn?" Percy swallowed looking at Emmy slightly surprised, "Always, and shouldn't you be working." The girl smiled and nodded, "Probably, but I have this magical thing called a break. Now, confess to Mother Emmy." Percy couldn't help but smile, "It's complicated." He didn't think he could explain his and Annabeth's history, too much Demi-god 'stuff' involved. Emmy kept her smile, "Try me." Percy took a bite of fries and a deep breath before beginning. He started at the beginning, when he first met her at 'summer camp'. Emmy nodded and listened the whole time until he reached the moment where he asked Annabeth out. "Oh yes, Annabeth told me all about this and Camp Half-Blood." Percy almost choked on his burger and looked at her with wide green eyes, "Um, what." Emmy gave him a smirk. "It's complicated." Percy couldn't stop his eye roll. "Well you see, my mother was a daughter of Demeter, and attended Camp as a kid. Because of my grandmother I can see through the mist." Percy had never thought about a Demi-god having kids with a mortal, would the kids have the powers of a god? It was almost like Emmy read his mind, "Although I have no control over plants I inherited my mother's ADHD. A bit of a pain for school." Percy nodded completely understanding what she meant. "So you're telling my Demeter is your grandmother?" Emmy nodded like it was no big deal. At that moment her boss looked over and gave her a slight glare. She stood cheerfully. "Hey I get off in half an hour, free slice of pie if you wait." It only took a second for Percy to agree, if free food was involved he was game.

Stomach filled with pumpkin pie and burger Percy held the door open for Emmy who had taken off her apron and was just wearing skinny jeans and a gray v-neck. "So, to your house?" He asked awkwardly knowing Annabeth would be waiting. Emmy nodded looking slightly grim. "Lead the way." Percy gestured for her to go ahead of him. For awhile they walked awkwardly before Emmy turned to Percy with a slight blush. "Can I borrow that?" She pointed to the jacket that was hanging over his arm. Percy looked down at it then nodded, "Yeah, sure." He took it off his arm and handed it to her. He hadn't noticed she was shivering, to him it felt perfectly warm, though he never seemed to be cold. Emmy pulled the sweatshirt over her head, it was simple and red but contrasted with her hair. Shrugging her shoulders she huddled up against the cold. The jacket smelled weird, but not bad, like she thought a guy would smell. Percy looked at her wanting to break the silence. "Random question time, what do you want to do with your life?" Emmy looked at him with a raised eyebrow before answering, "Well if you asked my parents they would say a lawyer. But I would say a jazz musician." Percy nodded, parents pressuring you, he could understand that. Emmy turned to him, "You?" Percy stopped suddenly and Emmy didn't realize they were in front of her house and almost kept walking. Percy sighed, "Actually I have no idea." He answered as Emmy pulled off the sweatshirt and handed it to him. Quickly and without hesitation she hugged him, "Thanks Percy and remember, I'm always here to help." Percy didn't know what to do about the hug, he just stood there while it lasted. "Emilia Daisy DeRushe!" They both looked up to see Annabeth sticking her head out of the window. Percy and never seen her so mad. Emmy waved at Percy, "Looks like I've got to go, see you around." He just nodded and walked away as quickly as he could, hoping his ex didn't throw anything out of the window at him.


	3. Fancy Meeting You Here

Percy took in a deep breath. He walked through the streets of New York, his breath fogging up the air infront of him. He was wearing the same sweatshirt Emmy had borrowed the night before. It smelled different, not like flowers like you would expect. But almost... Warmer? Yes like vanilla with a bit of orange. _Wow Percy_, he thought, _what are you even thinking about this for? So what if she smells good? _Okay, that wasn't much better. Now he admitted she smelled good. He looked up at the sky letting out a sigh and continuing to walk. Percy wasn't paying any attention as he walked straight into a girl. Percy heard a loud metalic clang as they both fell on to the ground with a grunt. "Gods dangit!" He heard the girl yell in a familiar voice, _gods_? Sitting up he looked the girl up and down with his green eyes. She had dark hair, fair skin and pretty eyes. She was wearing a white apron over a navy blue t-shirt and skinny jeans. He watched as she knelt over a rectanglular breif case. In her hands was a saxaphone, wich she was inspecting for dents. "Emmy?"

Emmy glared at him placing the instrument into it's case. "Good thing this is fine, other wise I might have killed you." Percy couldn't help but think how ridiculous that was. Her just a mortal girl, him a demi-god that had lived through fighting with giants. Though from what he has learned, a angry girl could be more dangerous than Hades himself. Percy laughed. "How is this funny?!" She demanded closing the snaps on her case. Percy stood before she got the chance to, and offered his hand to help her up. Emmy took it and stood holding the case at her side. "Oh nothing, just the thought of you trying to kill me." He smiled crookedly, in his usual dorky way. Emmy couldn't help but think it was cute. "It would probably involve papercuts and lemon juice." Emmy said smiling looking at her watch. "Crap I'm going to be late for work, thanks." She shot him a small glare. Percy kept his smile, hoping she wasn't serious about the paper cuts, you know how bad that would hurt? "Here to make up for it why don't I walk you? It would be the gentlemanly thing to do." Emmy scuffed, "For the past couple weeks that I have known you, you have not been gentlemanly once."

"Hey, I walked you home yesterday!"

"I had to bribe you with a piece of pie."

Percy laughed, "Then I guess it's time to change my ways." He offered his elbow, she looped her arm through it. They walked and Percy focused on synchronizing their steps. It's just one of those things that bothered him if they were off, no matter who he was walking with. "So tell me something about your self." He smiled at Emmy, it wasn't the most original thing to say, but hey it started a conversation. "Um, I'm from Louisiana." Emmy looked down like she didn't like to talk about it, but Percy being the clueless boy he was pushed her, "And?" Emmy took a moment to think. "I go to the same school as Annabeth." Percy couldn't help but take in a sharp breath at the mention of her name. Mixed emotions filled him. A mixture of longing and pure anger. Emmy realized what she had said to late, crap. They had been enjoying themselves, and she just had to ruin it.

They didn't reach the diner soon enough. Emmy turned towards Percy, "Here's my stop." He nodded, _Gods why am I so stupid? A nod? That's the best I've got? _Looked down at Percy's hand bitting her lip. What was she up to? In one swift moment she grabbed his left hand and pulled a pen out of her apron pocket. In a loopy messy script she wrote a series of numbers across his hand. "Well see you later." As guickly as she possibly could Emmy ran into the diner leaving Percy to look at his hand in shock. Did that suriously just happen? Sweet.


	4. Awkward Calls

Percy stared at the number scribbled across his hand. It would have faded long ago if he hadn't kept tracing it. Now it was a multitude of colors and more like his hand writing than Emmy's. It had been a month since he had last seen her, the day they literally ran into each other. Annabeth hadn't even tried to contact him in any way, as if she hadn't cared in the first place. Percy was hurt, and didn't want to have to deal with the drama that came with hanging out with any girl. Though it wasn't like he had many guy friends out side of camp, let alone any that lived in the New York area. At the moment Emmy was the closest thing he had to a friend, and he was tired of being alone. The was also the fact that Percy couldn't get Emmy out of his head, she had made quite the impression.

Percy summed up all of his courage and picked up the phone in the kitchen. He was alone at the moment, his mother and Paul out to dinner. The phone was an old one, so old it had one of those curly cords and was hung on the wall. Before he could back out he dialed the number he had memorized without realizing it. Instead of the ringing he was expecting to hear, Percy was surprised to hear a song. Lyrics flowed out of the headset. It must have been a parody of the Pokémon theme song, he couldn't help but smile. The song suddenly stopped and a voice replaced it. "Hello who is this?" Percy swallowed nervously, strangely Emmy sounded an awful lot like Annabeth on the phone. "Um, it's Percy." There was a sharp, shaky intake of breath on the other side of the line. Percy's eyes widened, Oh Gods it couldn't be coud it? "What do you want Seaweed Brain?" The boy gulped, pain shot through his heart. He wasn't ready for this. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Is Emmy there?" He could almost feel the awkwardness seep through the phone. "No, she left her phone here when she left for practice." Percy could only assume she ment band practice. A little sigh escaped his lips, he wasn't sure if he wasn't to talk to Emmy anymore. All of his confidence was gone. "Oh, well, would you tell her I called when she gets home." Annabeth paused for a moment, clearly reluctant to agree. "Sure." With that the other line of the phone went dead. Percy let out a breath sitting down at the kitchen table. His head dropped resting against the table top. "Well that was fun."

The phone didn't ring again until later that night. He had fallen asleep on the couch while watching the Shining. The phone stopped ringing, he had missed it. "Crap." He rubbed his eyes pausing the T.V. at the scene where the father breaks through the door with his axe. Percy stretched before slowly walking over to the phone to see who had called. A little green light flashed on the base, who ever it was left a message. He brought the phone to his ear to listen to the message. "Hey Percy." It was clearly Emmy this time, no mistaking it. "So um, Annabeth said you called. What's up? Just call me back at this number, though I probably won't answer because I have to go to the library to study. So the best choice would be to text me. I mean if you have unlimited texting, other wise don't bother. Unless you want to." She took in a breath, "Oh Gods I'm rambling. So just text me or call me. Talk to you later Percy." The boy smiled putting the phone back up. Why hadn't he thought of texting her? He pulled his small phone out of his pocket. In less than a minute he had a message ready to send. "_Hey, it's Percy. I was just wondering if you were doing anything tomorrow. The zoo is having a special for students because it's the last Saturday of the month. What do you think_?" Without thinking about it any further he pressed the send button hoping for the best. Percy returned to the couch continuing his movie. After about ten minutes his phone started going off. He looked down at the screen. "_I would love to. Meet you in front of my building at 9. Don't be late_." Percy smiled sending a reply to show he under stood. tomorrow was going to be fun.


	5. The Lumberjack Special

Percy groaned hearing the one sound everyone in the world hated, the sound of an alarm clock going off. _Maybe I can press snooze just one more time. _He let out a sigh seeing the time on the clock. _Okay Percy, it's time to get up. Just don't think about how warm the bed is, or how tired you are. _He stood running a hand through his messy hair. It was 8, earlier than anyone she ever have to wake up on a Saturday. But, it was going to be worth it. Today he was going to the zoo with one of the few friends he had left. Standing up he looked around the floor for a pair of jeans. Finding a clean enough pair he pulled them on over his boxers. Trudging over to his closet he pulled out the first shirt he laid eyes on. It was a red one, with the Avengers simple on it. Fully dressed he walked out to the small living room of his apartment. Sally looked up with raised eyebrows and a smile, "Wow, look who's up before noon." Percy lifted a finger to his lips making a shush sound. "Wow, aren't you the morning person." He walked past her waving his hand behind him. Sally let out a laugh. "There's fresh coffee in the pot and I made blue pancakes." Percy walked into the kitchen smiling seeing all the food, "Love you."

By 8:30 Percy was out the door and on his way. In his hands he held a 2 portable coffee cups with lids radiating warmth from the coffee inside. He reached Emmy and Annabeth's house sooner than expected. Not sure what else to do he just sat down on the steps leading up to the front door. With out anything else to do he started sipping on his coffee setting the other one next to him. "Is that by any chance for me." He turned around slowly, letting out a breath seeing it was only Emmy. "As a matter of fact it is. French roast with Almond Joy creamer." Emmy smiled sitting on the step taking the cup. "Well, I did some research. The zoo doesn't open until 11. So we have two hours to kill. Ideas?" Percy tapped his fingers against the side of the cup thinking. "We could go get some breakfast." He had already eaten, but that didn't mean he couldn't eat more. "Sure, I still need to pick up my pay check from the dinner. We could go there." Percy nodded and stood, "Sure, sounds like a plan." Emmy stood up next to him, "After you."

They reached the little hole in the wall not a few minutes later. "Hey you go ahead and order, I'm going to go get my check." Percy nodded and sat down at one of the booths looking over the menu. Emmy returned to the table looking like she wasn't the happiest camper. "What's up?" He asked before taking a sip of Dr. Pepper. "One of our fry cooks quit. If we don't find a new one soon we will have to go to shorter hours." Percy perked up slightly, "So, there's a job opening?" Emmy nodded, "Well I would be happy to do it. I've been looking for a job for the last 6 months." Emmy bit her cheek, "Um, I guess I could put in a word. But there's no guarantees." Percy smiled, "I'm okay with that." The words had just left his mouth as the waitress walked up to them. "Hey Emmy." The blonde turned to Percy. "And Emmy's guyfriend. What can I get for ya?" Emmy smiled at the girl. "You know my usual Jessica, though I'm not sure what Percy wants." The girl turned to him with a wide smile, "Alright Sweetie how can I help you?" Percy was taken aback by the fact that he had just been called Sweetie. He wasn't sure if she was just being kind, or flirting. "Oh, um. I'll have the Lumberjack special." Jessica wrote quickly on her note pad, "And I take you for a bacon guy. Am I correct?" Percy nodded awkwardly, "Then the food will be right up."

Percy's eyes widened at the amount of food that was placed in front of him. Two pancakes, a ham steak, biscuits and gravy plus 3 slices of bacon. He gulped, "Oh Gods." Emmy laughed at him as she started on her one pancake with 2 fried eggs. "Were your eyes a bit to big for your stomach?" Percy picked up his fork and looked up at her, "I think you underestimate my abilities." The both smiled and returned to eating. Percy swallowed and looked back up at her, he was a biscuit down and only one pancake was left. "So, how did you get that scar?" Emmy was already done eating and raised the scarred eyebrow, "It's a long story." Percy looked at his watch, "Well, according to this was still have at least an hour." Emmy sighed, "Alright, just you aren't allowed to laugh." Percy raised his hands, "I would never." He smiled cutting into the his piece of ham waiting for her to begin. Emmy took in a deep breath before starting. "Okay, so it was six grade." Percy nodded, continuing to stuff his face. "And that's the time in everyone's life where they want to fit in." She paused, reluctant to continue, "Well there was this group of girls that I desperately wanted to be apart of. I guess you could call them the populars. I went to them asking if they would accept me. Their answer was my eyebrows were to manly." Percy looked up at her, her eyebrows looked perfectly fine to him. Not perfectly shaped, but that was good, it made her look real, not fake. "So distraught I went home and tried to find something to fix them. I came across my father's razor. But it wasn't one of the normal ones, it was the type of razor Sweeny Todd used." Percy smiled at her reference, at least he knew she had good taste in movies. "Well I started to use that to trim these bad boys. I finished the first one just fine, but by the time I got to this one my mother caught me in the act. The problem was when she found me, she made me jump causing me to slice my eyebrow open. Luckily it didn't get to my eye, but the scar never left." Percy tried hard not to laugh, but he just couldn't help in. He let it out and Emmy gasped but still smiled, "Hey, you promised not to laugh!" She shoved his shoulder from across the table. Emmy looked up at the clock above the counter, "Hey, you almost done. We might want to head out soon, incase we run into some traffic." Percy nodded looking down at what was left of his food, "Alright, I give in." He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out a 20, "Don't worry I got this." He laid the bill on the table and stood before Emmy could argue, "All right but I'm paying for zoo entrance." Percy nodded, but knew he wasn't going to let her do that. He held out his elbow, "Ready?" She nodded and placed her hand in the crook of his arm. "You know it." They walked out the door and haled a cab, ready for their day at the zoo.


	6. Lions, Tigers and Bears Oh My!

Emmy and Percy climbed out of a cab, Percy handing the driver some money. The air smelled of animal, which was to be expected seeing how they were at the zoo. Emmy turned to Percy her white teeth flashing, "I hope they have giraffes." He laughed as they got into line for tickets. "They probably do." All the time they were waiting in line Emmy was hopping up and down, "Wow, you are like a six-year-old." Percy said sliding money under the window for tickets, trying to distract Emmy. She smiled, "Don't pretend you're not excited." Fishing through her pockets for money she watched as the tickets were handed to Percy. Emmy gave him a slight glare, "I thought I was going to be paying for admittance." Percy pretended he didn't hear her, "Hey, I think penguins are this way." Emmy's face lit up and she instantly forgave him starting towards the penguins.

It was two, the zoo was open for another five hours. They had seen loads of animals, but not giraffes. Percy and Emmy looked over the zoo map trying to find them, it was like playing a game of Where's Waldo. After a few minutes Emmy gasped and pointed to a section of the map, "There they are." She looked to Percy smiling. They were standing shoulder to shoulder, and Percy just noticed how close they were. Taking a slight step back he looked at where she pointed, "Yep, next to the zebras and lions. Not sure how we missed them." Emmy looked at the map, "We turned right towards the bears instead of left towards them." shielding her eyes from the sun she took a look around, "I think we take that path there." He looked where she was pointing and nodded. "Sounds alright." Percy folded up the map and they started walking.

After walking for an hour they stopped again. "I think we took the wrong turn." Percy looked at Emmy as she spoke, "You don't say." Emmy laughed looking around. "Some how we ended up with all the sea creatures, on the total opposite side of the zoo." They were once again looking over the map. Percy spoke, "Remind me to never let you navigate during a road trip." Emmy laughed, "While we are here we might as well go say hi to the fishies." Percy looked at her smiling, "I don't think they like being called that." Emmy grinned and grabbed Percy's hand dragging him towards the aquarium. Percy looked down as her hand closed around his, eyes wide. She didn't seem to think anything of it but he instantly started to worry. What if his hands were sweaty? Or if he was squeezing to tight?

Emmy stopped in front of a tank containing a snapping turtle. "He looks so weird." She turned towards Percy her white teeth flashing. So far all of the fish had followed him as he walked by, all talking to him. His mind was filled with the chatter of fish, but he could still concentrate on Emmy speaking. Though a rather rude comment from the snapping turtle stuck out to him, "Hank doesn't appreciate being called weird. There was more but it wasn't really appropriate." He looked at all the children running around. Emmy laughed turning back to the turtle, "Sorry." They continued walking around, all of the fish trying to get Percy's attention.

Waving good-bye to all the fish Emmy exited the aquarium. "How does some food sound?" She asked turning to Percy. He swallowed, believe it or not he was hungry, even though he had two giant breakfasts. "Sure, any suggestions?" Emmy casually reached over and pulled the map out of his back pocket. Percy tried to keep his eyes normal sized, and his cheeks from changing color. How could she be so nonchalant about stuff like this? Shoving those thoughts out of his head he looked over the map with her. Pointing to a small building he spoke, "This looks like a food court, as good a place as any." Emmy looked where his finger was and nodded, "Okay, but I think you should lead the way this time. We don't want to get lost again." Percy nodded but wasn't so sure, his sense of direction wasn't that great unless they were on the ocean. Looking back over the map and their surroundings he started off in the direction that seemed right.

Ten minutes later they walked into the large building, Percy proud of him self for finding it. The place reminded Emmy of the mall food court, different places lined the walls with an eating area in the middle. "Okay, since you won't let me pay for anything, why don't we go dutch?" Percy looked at her confused, what did that mean. Emmy explained, "It's were each member of the party pays for their own food." Percy nodded, "Alright." He was actually slightly relieved, he wasn't sure if the amount of money in his pocket would have paid for both of them. Emmy smiled, "Alright I'm going to get some pizza. Meet you in the center." With that she walked away leaving Percy to figure out what he wanted. Percy walked over to the chinese place and got a combination plate of sesame chicken and fried rice. Returning to the middle he took a seat at the table waiting for Emmy. A few minutes later she returned with a slice of pepperoni and a Sprite. She sat across from him and started eating. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Emmy spoke up, "Hey, can I ask you a favor?" Percy looked up slightly surprised, but nodded. "Later this week I'm going to visit my family in Louisiana for the holidays and I need a ride to the airport." She looked at him hopefully. All of her roommates were going to be out of town by then, so if he couldn't she would have to take a cab. "Sure, what day is it?" Even though Percy didn't have a car of his own yet, he could ask to barrow Paul's. Emmy smiled widely, "Thursday, and for your services I'll pay you back some how. Maybe dinner one night." Percy looked at her, grinning crookedly, "Only if I get to choose the place."  
"I guess that would only be fair, but I also need a ride from the airport when I get back the next Friday."  
"No I just plan to drop you off, and make you stay for ever."  
Emmy rolled her eyes, "Just as long as I get back to my house." By this time they had finished eating and were ready to return to the animals. Collecting their trash they threw it away before leaving. "Okay," Percy said, "According the the map giraffes should be right around this corner. Are you ready to finally see them?" Emmy nodded excitedly letting him leave the way.

"They are more perfect than I imagined." Percy laughed at Emmy as she looked at the long-necked creatures. He wasn't really a fan he liked small fury creatures better, but as long as Emmy was happy he was too. They watched the animals for a good ten minutes before Emmy looked back at Percy, "Alright, I think I got my giraffe fix." Percy nodded with a smile, "Does this mean we can leave now? I think we saw everything." It was already six, the zoo was only open for another hour. Emmy thought for a moment then nodded, "Yep, I'm done." They walked side by side until they found an empty cab. Climbing in Percy told the driver Emmy's address.

Percy got out of the cab handing the driver some money, he would just walk home. Emmy waited for him by her door, so it had come to that time. The time to say good night. The time where in every movie ever made the two people kissed. Though Percy wasn't sure if Emmy saw him that way, or if he saw her that way. Things were just complicated, just a few months ago he had been in love with one of her closest friends. Joining her in front of the door he awkwardly put his hands in his pockets not sure what to do. "Thanks for inviting me." Percy smiled, "Oh yeah no problem." Emmy looked up at him biting her lower lip. "Well, I guess I'll see you next Thursday." Percy nodded taking that as his que to leave. As he walked he wasn't sure if he was disappointed or not. He almost didn't hear Emmy speak. "Percy wait." He turned around looking at her with a raised eyebrow, "Yes?" Emmy ran up to him, quickly wrapping her arms around his neck. Percy looked down at her not sure if this was really happening. Emmy angled her head and stood on her tip toes to meet her lips to his. Percy's eyes widened then closed right before she pulled back. "I better be going now." Emmy said before running to her door and slipping inside. Percy just stood there for a moment with a stupid smile on his face. That was better than he ever dreamed it would be.


	7. Jealous Much?

**I apologize in advance if the fight isn't believable, and I would like to thank everyone who is following, has favorited or has reviewed this story. I can't express how awesome it is. Thank-you!**

_Pick me up at 11, my flight leaves at 12:30. So don't be late. _Percy reread the message to make sure he had the time right. Taking in a deep breath he turned over the key in Paul's new car, since a pegasus left a dent in his old one. Long story. Releasing the break and stepping down on the gas he moved the car forward, making his way towards Emmy's house. Percy was nervous, he hadn't really talked to Emmy since, that night. It was a wonderful night, but he wasn't sure if she thought so too. Bringing the car to a stop at the curb that Emmy and Annabeth shared he turned the car off. Pulling out his phone he sent Emmy a quick text to let her know he was there. Percy climbed out of the car and leaned against the door his hands in his pockets. The door opened and he looked up expecting to see Emmy, but boy was he disappointed. In her place stood a blonde with familiar gray eyes, that gave a pretty clear message of murder.

"Oh, um, Annabeth." Percy wasn't really quiet sure what else to say to her. What if she had seen the kiss? Oh Gods, his face flushed as fear filled him. Over the years he had seen Annabeth tear people apart, with just his words. He cringed not sure what to expect. Annabeth advanced at him and his cheek stung as she slapped him. "I can't believe you! You are such a... a... insensitive... Moron!" Percy couldn't believe it, she didn't have words to express her anger. That was definitely not good. Percy looked down at her, "How?" Annabeth looked like he had just hit her, how could he not understand? "We broke up and not three months later you are kissing my roommate." She said the words like venom, but Percy didn't back down. "You mean, you broke up with me. And how long until you approve of me seeing someone else? Do you expect me to spend the rest of my life heart-broken over you?" Annabeth looked at him, of course he was. She couldn't believe he was getting over her so fast. Tears filled her eyes as she shook her head, "I guess not, but it shouldn't be so easy for you. Did I mean nothing at all?" Annabeth's eyes gave off of desperate puppy. Percy shook his head, "No, you meant a lot." He looked down at her, feeling sorry. "But you ruined that." Anger filled Annabeth again, "I ruined that? So it's all my fault now? You had nothing to do with it?" With that she stormed back into the house leaving the door slightly open. Emmy's head peeked out from behind the door, "You okay?" Percy nodded, "Come on, we're going to be late."

They drove in silence for most of the drive, until Emmy spoke up, "I'm sorry if I'm making your life difficult." Percy looked up at her slightly surprised. "Why would you say that?" Emmy took in a deep breath looking down at her hands, "If it wasn't for me you and Annabeth could have gotten back together by now. But I have made that impossible, and I'm sorry." She said the words quickly, like they had built up inside her for some time. Percy gave her a smile as she looked up at him, "Don't say that. I'm glad I met you." He reached over and grabbed her hand, then looked back at the road. "I mean you are a pretty good kisser." With that a smirk returned to Emmy's face and she hit him lightly on the shoulder.

Pulling up in front of the airport Percy got out and walked to the trunk. He took out all of Emmy's bags. "Gods, do you really need all of these for a week?" Emmy nodded digging through one of them pulling out her ticket. "Most of it is Christmas presents." Percy nodded, that's right. Christmas was only a few days away. Looks like he was going to have to do some last-minute shopping again. By the time he came back to reality Emmy had all of her bags carefully stacked onto a suitcase and a back pack over her shoulders. "Well I guess this is it." Percy nodded looking at her awkwardly. Emmy walked too him and wrapped her arms around him. "Thanks for the ride, and see you in a week." Percy nodded, "Yeah no problem, just remember you owe me that-" The middle of his sentence was interrupted by Emmy bringing her lips to his. They stood there embraced for a moment before he pulled back, that cute little crooked grin of his wide on his face. "Flattery won't get you out of buying me dinner." Emmy dropped her arms and laughed. "Can't blame a girl for trying." Gripping the handle of her suitcase she started pulling it into the airport waving good-bye to Percy. He returned the wave getting back into the car. Now, what was he going to do for a week?


	8. Snow Shenanigans

**The idea for a snow storm was given to me by Gh0sst, thank-you.**

Percy huffed as he sat in the traffic drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. His deep thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. Looking down at it he saw it was Emmy calling. He bit his lip, he wasn't supposed to answer the phone while driving, but it might be something important. Plus he was justing sitting in traffic. Before thinking about it anymore he answered the phone setting it to speaker and placing it on the dash. "Hello?" It took a moment for her to respond, "Percy is that you? Sorry I can't hear you all that well." Percy picked the phone up bringing it closer to his face, "Yeah it's me, what's up?"  
"Well, I have bad news. My flights been cancelled because of a snowstorm."  
Percy's eyes widened, "So does this mean you can't go home for the holidays?"  
"Yep, but I would really appreciate it if you came and got me."  
Percy nodded, "Yeah sure no problem, but there won't be any time for me to drop you off at your house. You're going to have to come to dinner with me."  
"Alright, sounds okay to me. I'll be waiting for you were you dropped me off."

Percy pulled up to the curb at the airport and got out greeting Emmy, "So much for a week." Emmy laughed and nodded, she seemed strangely happy. Her Christmas plans had just been ruined, but she looked happier than before. Percy shrugged it off and put all of her bags into the trunk. "Alright get in the car. We don't want to be late. My mom is making lasagna." Emmy's eyes widened, she was going to meet his mom. She nodded and climbed into the car buckling her seat belt. Emmy watched Percy drive for a while before speaking up, "Does your mom know I'm coming?" Percy shook his head keeping his eyes on the road, "No, but I'm sure she won't mind." Emmy nodded, she sure hoped so. It would suck to make a bad first impression, Emmy desperately wanted his mother to approve of her.

As they pulled up to Percy's family's apartment Emmy grew nervous. Bringing the car to a stop he looked over at her, seeing her taking in deep breaths. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure they will love you." Emmy nodded it seemed stupid to feel like this. They were only people, "Well I guess it's now or never." She got out of the car and pulled a roomy sweatshirt over her head. Emmy could feel that snowstorm coming in. Percy lead the way up the stairs, Emmy close behind. The door opened before Percy could even open it. It let out the smell of delicious food. There stood a tall man with salt-and-peppered hair, there were wrinkles next to his eyes that showed he smiled a lot. "Oh, Percy. We were wondering where you were. Keys?" The man held his hand out and Percy dropped the car keys into it. "Hey Paul, yeah sorry. Emmy's flight was canceled." Paul looked over to the girl, giving her a quick up down. Pocketing the keys he held out his hand, "Name's Paul. I'm Percy's step-dad." Emmy gave him a smile and shook the large hand. "I'm Emmy. Percy's, um, friend." She wasn't quite sure what they were, but friend seemed like the safest route. Percy spoke to break the awkwardness from building, "Paul is a teacher at one of the local high schools." Emmy nodded, "Oh that's cool." Paul took a step back allowing the two inside. Percy took of his shoes and Emmy tried to follow his example, but had to sit down in order to take of her high top converse. She stood up, looking self consciously at her mixed matched neon socks. Following Percy to were ever he was walking she silently prayed her feet didn't smell and looked around.

Paul had returned to his couch and continued watching Sports Center. Percy lead Emmy into the kitchen just as his mother pulled a pan out of the oven. "Hey mom, we're here." Sally didn't turn around as she spoke, "We? Is Annabeth with you?" Emmy's eyes widened and she swallowed nervously. Sally turned around with a smile, but setting eyes on Emmy the smile disappeared. "Oh, Percy. Who's this?" Percy was surprised by his mother's reaction, "This is Emmy. A friend of mine." Emmy stuck out her hand, and Sally shook it before looking back at Percy. "Um, Percy can I talk to you for a minute?" Percy nodded and Emmy looked around awkwardly, "I'll go wait out there with Paul."

Emmy sat on the couch next to Paul curious to what was going on. Paul could sense the tension and spoke trying to break it. "So that accent of your's, where is it from?" Emmy looked up and smiled at him, "I'm from Louisiana." Paul nodded returning her smile, "Oh cool. I used to visit my grandfather down there. What part are you from?" Emmy thought for a moment, should she tell him the town? No, he probably wouldn't know where it is. "About an hour out of New Orleans." The way she pronounced the town was proof enough that she was from there. Paul nodded once again, Emmy did so as well. Without really anything else to talk about they sat there awkwardly watching the T.V.

Sally looked at Percy as Emmy walked out of the kitchen. "What happened to Annabeth?" Percy rubbed the back of his neck. That was right, he hadn't told his mother yet. "We um, broke up." His mom sighed, "How long ago was this?" Percy had to mentally count. "Um about three months I guess." Sally's mouth opened, "And you never told me?" Percy shrugged looking down, "I guess it didn't come to mind." He looked up seeing his mom pull plates out of the cabinets, "Here set the table while we talk." She handed Percy the plates and he got to work. "So who is Emmy to you? And don't say just a friend, I'm a mom I know better." Percy bit the side of his lip, not really sure how to answer. "I'm not really sure at the moment." Sally nodded, a bit disappointed. She had really like Annabeth, Emmy was going to have to work hard for Sally to warm up to her. Having finished with the table Percy stuck his head out of the kitchen. Emmy turned around and gave him a look that said, 'Please help me.' He smiled, "Dinner is le served." Emmy stood quickly, thankful that was over. Together they stepped back into the kitchen. Percy showed where Emmy was to sit and sat next to her. Emmy took her seat taking in a deep breath, she wasn't sure how this was going to go.


	9. Moving on to the Next Stage

Emmy sat there awkwardly not knowing what to do. What if they said grace before dinner. Though it seemed unlikely as Percy was a Demi-God. Though maybe Paul was a religious man. She decided the best route was to do as they did. As soon as everyone was seated they all started diving for the food. She waited patiently until everyone else had food on their plate then scooped some onto hers. Looking at everyone's plate you could tell a lot about them. Percy's was piled high with lasagna, but not much salad. Emmy didn't doubt that he could eat all that, plus seconds. Picking up a fork she got to work on her plate of mostly salad. She wasn't a huge fan of lasagna, but there was no way she was going to complain. They ate in awkward silence, but maybe it only seemed awkward to her. It took Paul several minutes to speak, "So Emmy, why are you in New York?" The girl looked up slightly wide eyed, not expecting to be spoken to. She swallowed thinking, she had really left to get away from her family. Her mother had died a year ago, and her father had taken it really hard. Though she wasn't about to say that to almost complete strangers. "I'm up here to go to the performing arts school." Sally looked up, so the girl came from a wealthy family. Emmy continued, "I play the saxophone." She took a pause, what she was about to say was a clique, "I also sing." Percy looked at her, his mouth full of food, he didn't know that. He learned something new about her every day. Paul nodded, "That's cool." Sally made no effort to talk to Emmy, and Percy shot her looks every once in awhile as they ate and Paul talked with Emmy. The two seemed to get along pretty well.

A meal finished and ice cream bowls in the sink everyone stood in the kitchen. Sally was doing dishes, and wouldn't let Emmy help. Whether it was because she was a guest, or Sally's pride wouldn't let her, no one knew. Percy looked out a window smiling, "Looks like that snow storm has arrived." Emmy stood next to him, her breath fogging up the glass. "Great, looks like I'm going to need a ride home." She looked at Percy with an apologetic smile, "Sure no problem." He looked over to his mother and Paul. "Hey, can I borrow the car again? Emmy can't walk home in the snow." Paul nodded and Sally busied herself with the dishes. "Yeah, sure here." He fished the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Percy, "Just don't dent the hood this time." Percy laughed and Emmy raised an eyebrow. That one was probably a good story.

Emmy and Percy crawled into the car and drove for a few minutes. Percy turned to Emmy with a slight smile, "I'm sorry for the way my mom acted. I don't know what's up with her." Emmy looked at him and laughed, "Don't worry about it. It's really your fault for not telling her anything." Her smile gave away that she was teasing, causing Percy to roll his eyes. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just a typical guy." Emmy laughed. The drive took a little longer than normal due to the snow. They came to a stop in front of Emmy's house. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, then closed it again. Taking in a deep breath she spoke. "So Percy, where are we?" He gripped the steering wheel nervously, "What do you mean?" The girl sighed, "Today I was introduced as your friend. Is that what I am?" Sure they had kissed a few times, and flirted often, but nothing was official. Now it was Percy's turn to sigh, he leaned his head back causing his Adam's apple to stick from his neck. Turning his head slightly to the side he gave her a smirk, "Is that what you want to be?" Emmy scuffed shaking her head slightly, there he went again, being adorable. "I guess not. You are pretty awesome." A blush spread over her cheeks causing Percy to smile wider. "Then let me make this easier for you. Emmy, do you want to be my girlfriend?" She shrugged, suprising Percy, "I don't know, you might have to earn it." This earned a laugh from Percy. "Then I'm just going to have to prove myself." Emmy undid her seatbelt and leaned closer to Percy, "That might take a while." Their noses were almost touching and Percy let out a little laugh. Right when he thought he was about to be kissed Emmy opened her door and got out. "Well, I better be going now." Percy shook his head, "Uh uh, you won't get away with that." He got of the car him self and chased after her. Their laughter echoed through the streets. Percy finally caught her wrapping his arm around her waist and pulled her close. He angled his head down and Emmy did the opposite until their lips met. Emmy's arms found their way around his neck as they embraced. Eventually she pulled back breathless, her nose now red from the cold. "I really should be going." She whispered. Percy nodded, "Just don't forget your stuff." All of her bags were still in the trunk. After all of her bags were in the house Emmy gave Percy a wave as he drove off. She leaned against the door frame, a dreamy look on her face. Climbing the stairs she passed Annabeth, who shot daggers toward her. Emmy didn't care, she didn't care about anything. SHe now had a boyfriend, and he was fracking adorable.

Percy got back to his apartment and tossed the keys to Paul. His mom was in the kitchen putting away the left overs. He reached over her shoulder and picked up a piece of lettuce sticking it in his mouth. "Oh, you're home. That took you a bit long didn't it?" Percy swallowed raising his eyebrow, "It is snowing. I had to take caution." He stood there for a moment gathering up his courage. "Mom, what do you have against Emmy?" Sally put a plastic tub full of lasagna in the fridge, "I don't know what you mean." He sighed running a hand through his hair, "Mom." The woman busied her self with putting away dishes. "Mom, come on." She turned around, "Fine, I don't like her." Percy sat down at the table, far away enough she couldn't stupid smack him, but close enough they could still talk. "Why?"  
"Because you are getting to old."  
Percy's eyes widened, "What does that have to do with Emmy?"  
"It's just, at least last time you got a girlfriend I knew her before hand. This time you just showed up with some girl without any warning."  
"She's not just some girl Mom, I really like her." Percy was shocked by the words, he had never admitted it. But he still knew it was true. By this time Paul had wandered in, hearing the conflict, "I think she is nice, and it might be good for you to date a mortal for once." Sally gave him a look that said 'stay out of it.' But she couldn't deny the truth of the statement. Percy looked at his mother looking younger than he had in a while, "Could you at least try to be nicer to her next time?" Sally nodded, "And I would also like to invite her to spend Christmas with us. She was supposed to be visiting family but her flight was canceled, she could use someone to spend it with." Paul nodded, "I'm alright with that." He looked over at Percy's mother, "Sally?" She nodded, "Alright, but you are helping me clean the house." Percy smiled, he had won that argument. Which didn't happen very often with your mother, "Sounds fair enough."


	10. Last Minute Gifts

Emmy looked at Percy as they walked. They were at one of the local outdoor malls doing some last minute Christmas shopping. Emmy had everything for her own family, but needed something for Percy's. She couldn't just show up at their house on Christmas without anything in hand, her mother raised her better than that. "What should I get for your mom?" Percy looked down at her shocked by her sudden question. "I already told you you don't need to get her anything." Emmy shook her head, her brows came together in a stubborn look. "She already doesn't like me as it is, I don't want to make it worse." Percy laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I have no idea. What do girls usually want?" Emmy shrugged, "I usually go for Xbox games or Converse, but I don't think your mom and I share the same tastes." Percy nodded, that helped with what he was going to get her. "Well, we kind of have this inside joke with blue foods. You could get her a whole bunch of blue candy." Emmy gave him her signature scarred eyebrow up look, "Blue food? Please explain." Percy laughed, "Well it was once told to us that there was no such thing as blue food. Now every chance we get we eat blue food." Emmy laughed with him. "Then it sounds like a sweet idea." They walked to the closest candy store and got every blue piece of candy they had.

Twenty minutes later they walked out Percy holding most of the bags, though Emmy made him let her carry one. Each of them had some candy in their hands. Emmy was going to town on a jaw breaker while Percy bit off a piece of dark chocolate every once in a while. "So, where to now?" Emmy looked up at him, pulling the large jaw breaker away from her mouth. "Well, I already bought your present, and Paul is covered." While she was there for dinner he had expressed how much of a 49ers fan he was. So she had gotten him a Colin Kaepernick jersey that Percy verified Paul didn't have. "And I now have your mom's. So I'm done. Anything you need to get?" Percy nodded, "Yeah I still haven't gotten you anything." Emmy shook her head and gave out a laugh. "So do you want me to go wait for you at Starbucks while you get it?" Percy thought about it, "actually that is a good idea." He handed her all of the candy bags, a crooked grin on his face. "If I'm not back in an hour, I was probably kidnapped." With that he jogged off leaving Emmy behind. She sighed her breath fogging up the air in front of her. She didn't even know where Starbucks was, it had been more of a joke. Looking around helplessly for a few minutes she walked up to a group of girls about her age asking for directions. "Do you know where Starbucks is?" One of the girls nodded, "Yeah, go straight then take a left. You should see it on the right." Emmy gave a grateful smile and nodded, "Great thanks." She turned to leave before being stopped by a voice. "Hey, is that guy that was with you your brother?" Emmy turned around slowly to see one of the girls standing away from the rest who were giggling. "U?"m, no."  
"Related in any way?"  
"Nope."  
"Shame, he's cute." With that the girls walked past leaving a very surprised Emmy behind.

Percy walked into a music supply store having no idea what to do. Luckily a one of the employees walked up to him. "Need help finding anything?" Percy nodded at the guy, "Yeah, what do you suggest as a gift for a saxophone player?"  
"Do you know what type of saxophone it is?"  
Percy's eyes widened, he had no idea. "Um, no." The guy laughed and led him to a display case. It was full of saxophones all different sizes. "Which one is hers?" Percy never said it was for a girl, but being as clueless as he was it was probably pretty obvious. Looking over the different types he pointed to the smallest one, "That one." The guy nodded, "That's an alto sax. Follow me." Percy walked behind the guy until they came to a corner of the store. His demigod instincts were kicking in, his hand went to his pocket. He was reassured to feel the familiar shape of Riptide. The guy motion to a shelf, "This is were we keep all out alto sax accessories." Percy looked over it.

He walked out of the store a bag in hand. In the bag was two flavored reeds, which he thought was one of the best ideas ever, and a decorated neck strap. "Is that enough?" He bit his lower lip looking around. His eyes lit up seeing a Converse store right across the way. A smile crossed his face as he walked in. Emmy was always wearing colorful laces in her worn in black high tops. Percy picked out a pair of bright neon plaid and a pair of purple polka-dots. Now, to find Starbucks. He walked up to a group of girls and gave a crooked smile. "Do you guys know where Starbucks is." A blonde came forward and smiled, "Yeah head back that way and take a left. Should be right in front of you." Percy nodded, "Alright thanks."  
"That girl should be waiting for you." His eyes widened, what if these weren't teenage girls. He waved goodbye walking until he was out of sight. Percy started sprinting towards the Starbucks. What if those 'girls' had done to something to her. Bursting through the door breathing heavily he scanned the room. Emmy looked up from her hot chocolate surprised by Percy's sudden appearance, so did everyone in the small shop. His eyes landed on Emmy, safe and sound. A sigh escaped his smiling lips. He made her way over to her, sitting across from Emmy. "You alright there?" She asked before taking another sip of he drink. He nodded reaching a hand out taking the cup from her, drinking some. "Oh, go right ahead. I didn't want that anyway." Emmy said her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Well if you don't want it." He brought it to his lips again and Emmy reached across the table taking it from him, "Buy your own."  
"Why would I when I can just have some of yours." Emmy scowled but smiled after a minute of Percy looking at her. "So, are we done here?" Emmy asked. Percy nodded, "I got a bag full of stuff you aren't allowed to see." They both smiled before standing. Walking side by side they went to Paul's car. After climbing in they drove off.

Christmas was only two days away, and they couldn't wait. Emmy just hoped this Christmas would be better than her last one. Her mother had only been dead for a month, so it had been miserable. The next year was already looking better.


	11. The Christmas Special

**I am so sorry for taking forever on this chapter. If you thought I gave up on this story, don't worry. I plan to keep this going long after it's welcome is up, just please don't give up on me. I also know it's not Christmas time, but who doesn't love the holiday season? Okay I'm done having my mini rant. Thank you all! -Twinkies**

Emmy walked up to Percy's apartment a stack of wrapped presents barely balanced in her arms. Holding the stack between her arm and her hip she carefully leaned to ring the door bell. Not a minute later the door opened. Percy stood in front of her a lopsided smile lazily hanging on his face. Her eyes widened seeing what he was wearing, he was still in his pajamas. Green plaid flannel pants and a baggy white t-shirt. "You're over dressed, but extra points for the sweater." He said, a twinkle in his green eyes as he looked her over her jeans and tacky Christmas sweater. It was red fleece with a green tree sewn on. Scattered on the tree were little balls of fluff, symbolizing ornaments. Rolling her eyes she held out her stack of presents, "Here, put them under the tree." Percy took the stack from her, making it look smaller in his arms. "Ah, all for me?" They exchanged smiles and she followed him into the apartment. They stopped for a moment for Percy to drop off the presents, he carefully placed them among the other wrapped boxes.

Not ten minutes later they were all sitting on the floor circling the six-foot Christmas tree. In front of each of them was a small stack of wrapped objects. Starting with Paul, they took turns unwrapping. A smile fell on his face as he opened up a box revealing the jersey. "Thanks Emmy, I've wanted one for a while now." She nodded, giving him a smile. "Percy said you would like it." Next in the circle was Sally. She picked up the biggest box giving it a light shake. Not a sound was made, strange. Not waiting another moment she ripped off the snowflake paper and opened the box. Inside was layer upon layer of bubble wrap. A smile lit up her face looking up at her son, "Did you do this?" He shrugged giving one of his signature crooked grins. "Maybe." Sally's smile remained as she shook her head at Percy. Digging through the bubbled plastic she pulled out a bundle of it that had been taped together. "I think I'm going to need scissors with this." Once this was said she stood up walking to the kitchen. Returning a few minutes later she sat down in her spot and started hacking at the tightly wrapped plastic.

Surrounded by bubble wrap Sally finally held up her prize. It was the latest James Patterson book she had wanted to get. "Thanks Sweetie." She said giving Percy a tight hug. "No problem Mom." He smiled widely and reached towards his own pile picking the package that was from Emmy. A knowing smile lit up her face, she knew he was going to like his gift. Percy got to work carefully tearing off the penguin decorated thin paper. With an expert slice of the scissors the box was open. Looking inside he instantly started laughing. "How did you know?" He asked looking up at Emmy. "I have my ways." Her scarred eyebrow raised and her smile grew. "Well, what is it?" Paul asked craning his neck trying to get a good look. Percy pulled the context of the box out holding it up for everyone to see. In his hands he was holding a panda Pillow Pet. Just like the one he had gotten when he lost his memory. Just like the one that had been sacrificed. Percy had missed it, but had no idea how Emmy knew about it. "Do you like it?" Her soft voice broke into his head. He nodded, a bewildered smile on his face.

Emmy stuff an arm full of wrapping paper into a garbage bag. All the presents were unwrapped, and the living room was full of boxes and paper. "Did everyone like their presents?" Sally spoke up tieing the top of a full bag. Everyone nodded, though Emmy actually spoke. "I think flavored reeds are the best thing ever." Percy laughed softly. "I thought you would like those." He tied off the last bag. "Alright, you two get to drag these down to the trash. I'm going to start on dinner." Percy looked up at his mom as she spoke. "I thought we were going out to Chinese like we usually do." Sally shook her head. "I figured we could give turkey dinner a try. It's not just the two of us this year." He nodded, turkey sounded alright to him. "Alright, while that's cooking do you mind if me and Emmy go see a movie? So we can get our of your way." It looked like Sally was about to disagree before Paul spoke up. "That sounds like a great idea. Just don't forget about that trash." He gently grabbed Sally's arms, pulling her towards the kitchen. "Here I'll help you in the kitchen." Emmy stayed silent this whole time, the movie was a surprise to her, Percy came up with that all on his own. Obediently she picked up two bags waiting for Percy. Together they walked out of the apartment. "What movie are we seeing?" Emmy asked climbing into the car. "No idea, what ever's playing I guess." The girl laughed and he shot her a smile as they drove off.

"Wait, we need to stop at my apartment first." Percy shot Emmy a questioning glance, his green eyes shining. "Why?" Emmy flashed a smile, "It's a surprise, don't ask questions just drive." Percy laughed shaking his head slightly, "As you wish." Not a few minutes later they pulled up in front of her building, Emmy shot out before Percy could even pull the keys out of the ignition. "Wait here." She called running into the house. Percy got out of the car and circled to the passenger side, leaning against the door. He stuck his hands in his pockets, hunching his shoulders against the cold. Emmy popped out of the building, holding something behind his back. She stopped in front of him, keeping her hands behind her. "Okay, no matter what you're about to see, you aren't allowed to laugh." Percy's eyebrows lifted slightly and he looked down at her. "Okay?"  
"You have to swear."  
"I swear, what is it?"  
After a moment of hesitation Emmy brought her hands forward holding a lump out to Percy. Looking at it closely he saw that it slightly resembled a hippo, but with wings. "Its a Pegasus." Percy took the clay sculpture from her, not sure what to say. "You hate it." Emmy buried her face into her hands. "It's horrible I know, but I had to make something for art class. I thought you would like it, but it didn't turn out as planned." Percy looked at her a smile on his face. "No, I love it. It's perfect." One of her eyes picked out between her fingers. Percy placed the Pegasus behind him on the hood of the car and pulled Emmy into a hug. "Thank-you." He kissed her on top of the head, taking in the scent of her hair. Vanilla with a twist of orange. "It's the best gift ever." Emmy put her hands down looking up at him, her eyes wide and mouth open slightly to reply. She never got the chance to, Percy place his lips on hers. Her arms found their way around his neck, pulling him closer. Percy's hands slid down from her shoulders resting on the small of her back, pulling her against him. They stayed like this until they needed to pull away for breath. Percy leaned down resting his forehead against her's, "I'm going to name him Henry." Emmy laughed, enjoying the warmth Percy gave off. "So are we going to that movie or what?" They pulled away from each other, Percy returning to the driver's side, but not before grabbing Henry off of the roof. They pulled away from the building, not noticing Annabeth looking at them from the window.

Over two hours later they returned to his families apartment exiting the car together, Percy holding Henry. Emmy looked around, frowning slightly. "Do you smell burning?" Percy nodded, "I think it's coming from my apartment." He took off almost running, climbing up the stairs. Once the door was unlocked he rushed in looking around, his body tense as he set Henry down on the table next to the door way. Sally's head poked out of the kitchen, "Hey honey, we're going to have to go out for Chinese after all."  
"What happened?"  
"I kinda burned the turkey. To a crisp." Percy gave a soft chuckle, Emmy just stood behind him wide-eyed. How could they be so calm about this? If this had happened at her house melt downs would be involved. But Sally was just smiling, like this happened all the time. Maybe it did. "The usual place?" Sally nodded, "Yep, I already called ahead. They have our order cooking. Paul and I will drive in a separate car, meet you guys there." With that she slid past them, Paul not to far behind. Percy sighed shaking his head slightly, "I think she's glad she doesn't have to cook the rest of that, cooking never was her favorite thing to do." He looked next to him expecting Emmy to be standing there, instead she had walked over to the window and was struggling to open it. "What are you doing?" Percy asked walking up behind her, placing his hands on the window his arms surrounding her. "I thought you might want to get this smoke out of here, so I'm trying to open this window." As she spoke her breath brushed warmly against his arms, both were very aware of how close they were to each other. "Then let me help you with that." His voice was soft, Emmy's dark hair moved as he spoke. He opened the window then took a step away from Emmy. "We should probably head to the restaurant. Don't want to keep them waiting." Emmy nodded. "Lead the way."

Stomachs full they exited the restaurant as a group. All of them were wearing heavy coats, huddling against the cold. "Thank you once again for an excellent Christmas." Emmy said smiling at Sally and Paul. Their arms were linked together, both looking extremely happy. "No problem. It was a pleasure having you with us. Though I'm sorry I burned the turkey." Sally turned to Percy. "Drive Emmy home, but don't take to long." He nodded taking Emmy's hand leading her away. Out of habit he opened the car door for her before going to his own, climbing in. "Hurry up and turn on the heat." Emmy said through shivering teeth as she pulled on her seat belt. Percy did so and carefully pulled out of their parking spot, as he looked back he draped his arm over the back of Emmy's seat and never moved it the whole ride. By the time they had reached her building a light snow was falling all around them. They both climbed out of the car. Emmy's nose began to sting from the sudden cold, she took in a deep breath that hurt her lungs. "Gods it's cold." Percy nodded in agreement. "Did you enjoy yourself today?" Her head bobbed up and down, a smile lighting up her face. "Yep, this is the best Christmas I've had in a while." Percy returned her smile, "Glad to hear it." His eyes flicked towards her building, "Is everything alright here? I mean is anyone giving you a hard time?" Emmy was slightly shocked by the random question. "You mean Annabeth? No, she's been nice enough. Though she glares at me when she thinks I'm not looking." Percy nodded chewing the side of his cheek. "Alright, just if anything happens don't be afraid to tell me." Emmy smiled seeing him concerned like that. "Don't worry Fish Breath. I can stand my own." Percy chuckled. "Fish Breath, that's a new one."  
"Now I should probably go in before one of my toes falls off, and it sounded like your mom wanted you home. Also since my flight was canceled I will be leaving tomorrow for home. Can I bum another ride from you?"  
"Sure, and you still owe me that dinner."  
"We can do that the night I get back." Percy nodded. "Alright." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks once again. See you in tomorrow at 9 in the morning." They exchanged waves and both left. Above their heads Annabeth stood in her room looking down at them, her rage building.


	12. All is Fair in Love and War

Emmy ran a comb through her hair, she was standing in the bathroom looking at herself in the mirror. In two hours she would be boarding an airplane heading home, and she wasn't as excited about it as she thought she would be. It had been a few months since she had seen her father, and he hadn't been doing so well. His love affair with alcohol had been one of the reason she left. He had always liked his beer, but once her mother died he went over the deep end. Sighing she pushed the thoughts out of her mind, she should be happy. Her younger brother, Gentry, was going to be there. He was fourteen and she still felt guilty for leaving him behind. Emmy's thoughts were interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind her. She looked in the corner of the mirror seeing a tall blonde with sharp grey eyes glaring at her.

"Hey Annabeth, what do you need?" Emmy looked at the girl nervously. They hadn't really talked since Percy and Emmy had become so close. "You have been taking up the bathroom, I need to shower." Emmy nodded and picked up her bag that held the toiletries she would need for the trip. She walked past the girl and stopped just beyond the door way. "Annabeth?" The girl turned around looking at Emmy. She was doing a terrible job of hiding her anger. "What?"  
"I just want to say, I hope we can still be friends. I don't want to lose your friendship."  
"I think it's a bit late for that don't you? Besides I don't usually get along with sluts all that well."  
Emmy took in a sharp breath not expecting that. Could Annabeth really hate her that much? She was the one who broke up with Percy. "How am I a slut for dating one guy? It's not my fault you were a bitch to him." Her volume raised as she continued speaking. "I'm not the one you should be getting angry at. All I did was be there for Percy when you crushed him." Emmy hadn't realized she was angry at Annabeth for that. The girl had broken up with him and expected him to continue to drool over her. Annabeth reeled back, clearly not thinking Emmy had the guts to respond. "I'm the bitch? Percy and I were just on a break, but you swooped in and ruined everything. You're just a, just a home-wrecker."  
"I can't control how Percy feels. You ruined what you had the moment you told him to go."

Annabeth let out a sound of pure anger and grabbed the nearest thing throwing it at Emmy. It was a flat iron Emmy had used to straighten her bangs, and it was still scorching hot. Shocked by the sudden violence Emmy only had time to side step the iron, but it still grazed her arm leaving a painful burn mark. Both girls looked at Emmy's arm in disbelief, Emmy couldn't believe Annabeth had actually done that. "That's enough." Said a voice familiar to both of them, behind Emmy stood Percy. His eyes flared with an anger that Annabeth had only seen a few times, and she hated to be on the receiving end of. "I'm so sorry, Emmy. I don't know what happened."  
"I said that was enough, Annabeth." With that he grabbed Emmy gently by her unharmed arm and pulled her away. He pulled her into her room closing the door behind them. As he looked at her his rage left, replaced by a look of concern. "Are you alright?" His sea eyes focused on the red mark on her arm that was starting to blister. "Yeah, I'm fine. What are you doing here?"  
"I came here to give you a ride. You were late so I got out of the car to wait, that's when I heard the yelling. I rushed in worried something was wrong." Emmy nodded looking down at her burn, it wasn't that bad, but that didn't mean it felt like sunshine and rainbows. "Want me to put a band-aid on that?" Emmy gave Percy a reassuring smile, "No, it looks worse than it actually is. Plus it's best if we just let it breathe." Percy nodded looking around her room, it was the first time he had been inside it. One of the walls was solid black, but were covered in chalk writing. One was blank white but covered in different posters layered over each other, and the other two were covered in wide purple zig zags. "Cool paint." The girl smiled walking over to the black wall and picking up a piece of blue chalk from the floor. "Thanks, want to sign my wall?"  
"Won't that damage it?"  
"Nope, chalk board paint." To prove this she ran her finger over some of the writing, her finger returned covered in yellow powder. He took the chalk from her starting to write. Percy stood in front of the space he was writing on, blocking Emmy's view. Once he moved the loopy handwriting was visible. "Henry is beautiful, no matter what you say. Love Fish Breath." She read aloud before laughing, "Yep that's staying there forever." Percy smirked, "Now, we better go so you don't miss your flight." Emmy nodded and slung her backpack over her shoulder. With one last look over the room to make sure she didn't forget anything she picked up the duffel bag, which Percy promptly took from her, refusing to let her carry it.

Here they were again, standing in front of the air port, Emmy's bags at their feet looking at each other. Percy bit his lip placing a hand on her slender shoulder. "Just don't forget if anything happens, no matter what, don't be afraid to call. No matter the time." He had noticed how reluctant she was to go, clearly not happy about the trip. Percy also ment when she was here in New York, Annabeth proved herself to be a loose cannon. Emmy nodded, "I know." She stepped towards him, slipping her arms under his hugging his waist. "And don't forget you got that job at the diner and start Wednesday." Percy returned the tightness of her hug, his arms resting just below her shoulders. "I will remember, don't forget to get to the air port on time." Emmy chuckled softly pulling away from him slight, looking up in to his eyes. As he looked down into hers he was once again stricken by their unique beauty. "Bye." She whispered. Instead of replying he kissed her forehead, then placed his lips on hers. They kissed gently, not the heated passion of the night before. Emmy pulled away from him and kissed his cheek, whispering into his ear. "Now, I really must be going. See you soon Percy." Completely letting go of him she picked up her bags and walked away. Percy could only watch her leave, a stupid grin on his face.


	13. Family Troubles

**We have hit over 3,000 views! Just, thank-you to everyone who has reviewed, follows or favorited this story. ** **I must admit I almost cried seeing that, but managed to only squeal a few times. Look forward to a whole bunch of uploads form me, I'm on spring break and have nothing else to do.  
**** -Twinkies**

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Percy looked at his phone catching his bottom lip between his teeth. Two days ago he had gotten a text from Emmy saying she no longer needed a ride from him. It really wasn't anything to worry about, but Emmy hadn't returned any of his calls. It wasn't like he had become over obsessive, he was just worried. Percy felt like she was avoiding him. A whole week had passed since the flat-iron incident, and he couldn't help but wonder if that had something to do with it. Had Annabeth scared her off? He sure hoped not.

He could only see one answer, he needed to go to her house. He needed to talk to Emmy, and he was going to make it happen. Percy walked to her apartment, his hands in the pocket of his red hoodie the whole time. Once there he knocked on the door, looking around. The door opened just enough for a face to wedge it's self in the space. The head belonged to a girl, a girl with wild black hair, tan skin and blue eyes that looked like they could belong to a wolf. She had a look to her that made it hard to tell what ethnicity she was, but Percy's best guess was Native American. "No one in this house wants to talk to you. Leave." Her voice was soft, but with an edge to it. She almost sounded like she was trying to be harsh, but couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "Let me see Emmy." Percy pushed on the door gently, only to feel an equal force on the other side. "Sorry, I can't let you do that."  
"Who are you anyway?"  
"Jade, Emmy and Annabeth's room-mate. Now, please leave."  
"Why doesn't Emmy want to see me? Was it because of what happened before she left?"  
"No, it has nothing to do with you. Please, just leave."  
Percy scowled and looked at her, those blue eyes of hers had gone from fierce to pleading. "Fine, just make sure Emmy knows I was here." Once the door was closed he waited until he was sure she wasn't watching him. Percy walked up to the side of the building to the fire escape. He remembered seeing it through the window in Emmy's room. Based on it's rust he wasn't sure if it would hold his weight, but it was the only way he could see to get to her.

Percy got to work on the rusty rungs, cringing as they groaned under his weight. After a few minutes of climbing a ladder he reached a platform that looked into Emmy's room. He saw her bed, and sitting on top of it was Jade, with someone sobbing into her shoulder. All he could see was the person's hair, but that alone was enough to identify the human. It was Emmy, his gut sank and his throat tightened seeing her like this. Not once had she ever shown a sign of weakness, even under pain, and here she was sobbing uncontrollably. Without thinking he opened the window, Jade spun around covering Emmy protectively. "I told you to leave." Percy ignored her climbing through the window, "Emmy what-" He was cut off mid sentence by the girl looking up. The first thing he noticed was the ugly purple bruise surrounding her left eye. Next it was that her bottom lip was split, but it was starting to scab over. Her eye wasn't swollen shut, but it didn't open quite as much as it used to. He nearly ran to her, kneeling down in front of her. "Who did this?" A strange mixture of rage, concern and pain filled his face and voice. "Tell me who and they will pay."  
"It doesn't matter Percy." Her voice was rough.  
"Did this happen to you in Louisiana? Is that why you didn't want to see me?"  
Emmy nodded and looked over to Jade. "Could you get me some water?" Jade looked at Percy and left the room, Emmy returned her gaze to Percy. She looked at him. "Percy, I'm sorry I was avoiding you. I just, didn't want to see me like this." Percy's rage slowly left him. Emmy's cheeks were still wet from fresh tears. Percy sat down on the bed next to her, holding his arms out for her. She adjusted so she rested on his lap, her head against his chest. Percy wrapped his arms around her.  
"How did this happen?"  
Emmy took in a shaky breath, "It was my last day visiting, I was packing to head home. My dad had spent most of the day drinking, which he seems to do a lot of lately." She paused and Percy held her tighter. "As I was packing my dad walked into the room, I could smell the alcohol as soon as he did. He started yelling, he wasn't happy about me leaving. He kept going on about how I was leaving him just like my mother did. I couldn't let him talk about her like that, so I yelled back." Emmy looked up at Percy, her eyes shining. "That's when he hit me, and he would have done it again if my brother hadn't stopped him."  
"None of this was your fault." Percy whispered.  
"Oh, I know that. I just can't help but feel guilty because I left Gentry there. He has no way to defend himself, he's only 14."  
"You had to get out of there Emmy, and it sounds like Gentry would want you to leave." Emmy nodded and sank back into Percy's arms.  
"I'm sorry for not talking to you."  
"It's okay, I'm just glad your back here, safe." He rested his chin on top of her head, letting out a sigh. They sat there in silence, Emmy no longer crying. It was a few minutes before one of them spoke again.  
"Percy?"  
"Hmm?"  
"Can I stay with you tonight? I'm still mad at Annabeth, and don't want to have to deal with her right now." Percy chuckled softly.  
"I'm sure my parents would be cool with it, though I would have to explain what happened to you."  
Emmy nodded, "I'm alright with that." She untangled herself from him. "Go wait outside, I'll be there in a minute. And feel free to use the front door this time."  
Percy laughed gently, "Okay." He exited the room and headed down the hall. He was stopped by someone grabbing his arm, he turned to see who it was. Percy was surprised when his eyes landed on the familiar tan face framed with golden hair. "Annabeth."  
"Is she all right? Jade brought her home and they went straight to her room."  
Percy sighed, but saw real concern in the gray eyes. "Yeah, she's going to be fine. Emmy's going to stay with me tonight, but I'll bring her back tomorrow."  
Annabeth nodded but the jealously was clear on her face, "Okay." After that she walked away, Percy watching her go.

Emmy met Percy outside, a back pack slung over her shoulder. "What's that?" The boy asked looking at the bag. "Over night stuff. You know, tooth-brush, hair brush. The whole nine yards." He nodded and held out his hand for her.  
"We're going to have to walk, Paul and my mom went out to dinner." Emmy nodded and grabbed his hand. They walked side by side, not needing to say a word. Reaching his apartment they entered, slipping off their shoes. "So, what are the plans?" Emmy asked looking around.  
"I don't know, how about we start with food?"  
"Sounds like a plan."


	14. Aprons and Tacos

**Now to answer a question many of you have asked me; will there be Percabeth? When I first started writing this story I thought maybe in the end, but now after writing this for a while I would have to say no. I have fallen in love with Emmy and Percy as a couple. I'm sorry if I disappointed anyone, but I don't have the heart to break Emmy and Percy up xD. I might do a Percabeth story in the future, just this isn't the one. I would also like to thank everyone who sent me pictures for the cover, in the end I found one. But still thank-you guys. Having finished that outrageously long author's note, enjoy the chapter.  
****-Twinkies**

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Together the two walked into the small kitchen. "So when you say food, what exactly do you mean by that?" Emmy asked looking into the fridge. She didn't usually cook, and had no idea what she was doing. "Um, what ever we can find. I don't cook often." Great, neither of them had any clue what to do. Percy joined her at the fridge, resting his head on her shoulder. "See anything that looks good?" Emmy felt his breath against her ear, and it sent a small shiver up her spine.  
"No, because I have no idea what I'm looking at."  
"Well, I do know how to make tacos. How do those sound?"  
"Perfect."  
Moving out of his way she walked over to the counter and pulled herself onto it. She sat, her legs swinging, watching him work. First he pulled all the ingredients out of the fridge. Once everything was laid out on the counter next to her he smirked. "So are you going to help, or just sit there the whole time."  
"I don't know this counter is pretty comfortable." She smiled, her white teeth looking brighter next to her bruised face. Percy rolled his eyes and moved so he was standing in front of her.  
"What if I say please?" His green eyes shining, giving off the puppy dog look.  
"Still might need a little convincing." Emmy crossed her arms and Percy laughed.  
"Alright, you've given me no choice." He took a step back and hunched over, Emmy gave him a quizzical look. Swiftly he rushed towards her, his shoulder level with her stomach. He wrapped his arms around her waist standing up fully, his arms moving down to rest in the crook of her knees. Percy spun around carrying Emmy fireman style. The girl yelped while all this happened too quickly for her to do anything about it. She hit his back with her fists, and not gently. "Perseus Jackson, put me down this instant." Percy laughed hearing her use his full name, it sounded cute when she said it.  
"I don't know, are you going to help me?"  
"Yes, just put me down." Percy could tell by the way her voice cracked slightly she was trying not to laugh. Chuckling he leaned forward and bent his knees until her feet made contact with the ground.  
"Better?"  
"Much. Never, ever, pick me up again." Her tone was slightly threatening, but the smile on her face contradicted it.  
"No promises." His eyes ran over her, before he turned back to the counter. "Now, tacos." He looked down at the ingredients clasping his hands together and bringing them to his lips. Emmy watched as he stood there for a minute, seeming to be lost in thought. He turned to her, "You know what would make this better?"  
"No, what?"  
"Aprons." Emmy laughed at him as he practically ran to the cupboard. Flinging the door open he searched the small space before pulling out a bundle of cloth. He untangled the colorful fabric, once done he held two aprons. One was pink zebra print with black writing that read, "Kiss the Chef." The other was tiny, like it was made for a child, and a dark forest green. Stains from meals past covered it, a white type spelled out, "Mommy's Little Helper." Emmy laughed seeing them. Percy held the pink one out to her.  
"Here use this one."  
"Are you kidding me? The other one would never fit you. Hand it over." She pointed to the green one, Percy shrugged and gave it to her. They each slid the neck straps over their heads looking down at the aprons. Both laughed seeing each other.  
"You look fabulous." Emmy said as Percy struggled to tie the stings behind his back.  
"You really think so?" She laughed and moved behind him.  
"Here let me help you with that." She took the stings out of his hands and tied them, being careful not to make it too tight. He turned around facing her.  
"Thank-" Percy was cut off by Emmy going on her tip toes and meeting her lips to his. His hands landed on her hips, hers on his shoulders. She pulled away from him smiling widely.  
"What was that for?"  
"Just following the apron's orders." She said looking down at the cursive across his chest.  
Percy snickered, "Okay, we really should get started on those tacos." The girl's hair bounced as she nodded in agreement. "You can start chopping up the tomatoes and lettuce. I'll get working on the meat." He said pulling a pan out and placing it on top of the oven. Emmy obediently started carefully dicing tomatoes on a cutting board. They worked silently, only the sound of the hamburger meat sizzling. "What about the shells?" Emmy asked now working on the lettuce.  
"We do those last, so the shell is still warm when we eat it." Percy said pouring a packet of flavoring over the browning meat.

"I think we did a pretty good job." Emmy said looking down at the table. There were small bowls, each filled with a different taco building ingredient. One large bowl was piled high with taco meat, and a plate in the center was covered in the hard shells. "I would have to agree with you." They each sat down at the small table and started making the actual taco. Emmy's were just meat, lettuce and a little tomato. She wasn't a fan of cold cheese, it only really appealed to her when it was melted. Percy on the other hand filled his with everything, including the extra-hot sauce they had found in the back of the fridge. Emmy was pretty sure it had expired long ago, but Percy had ignored her saying something about how hot sauce doesn't go bad.  
"This is really good." He said, his voice slightly muffled by the food in his mouth.  
"Gods Percy were you raised in a barn?" Emmy asked her voice light, he responded with sticking his tongue out. They continued to eat, making small talk, until the front door opened. Emmy, having been in the middle of taking a bite, looked up her mouth full. In the door way was Paul and Sally, both surprised to see the girl, and the bruise on her face. Paul was the first to speak.  
"Emmy, we didn't know you were going to be visiting." Sally nodded next to him. By this time they had already shed their coats and were standing next to the table, Sally not hiding her staring at Emmy's injuries.  
"Sorry for not telling you guys. It was a bit last minute." When Percy spoke his mother looked at him, giving him a questioning look. Emmy swallowed her bite of taco and looked at the two adults.  
"Hey." The word sounded so awkward, she really had no idea what to say. Finally Paul sat down in one of the chairs, Sally followed his example and did the same.  
"Emmy," Paul started to say, "What happened?" There was no questioning what he meant, Emmy knew she looked pretty bad.  
"It was her father." Percy said bluntly, but you could hear the slight edge of rage in his voice. Emmy gave him a grateful look, glad she didn't have to say it again. "Do you guys mind if she stays here tonight? Her and Annabeth aren't exactly getting along right now." Sally and Paul exchanged a look. It wasn't like they could really say no, where else would she go? But they weren't exactly comfortable with Percy's girlfriend staying the night. They came to a silent agreement.  
"As long as one of you sleeps on the couch." Sally said looking at Percy meaningfully, and when Emmy looked at him he seemed to be blushing slightly.  
"Deal, thank-you." Emmy said looking from Paul to Sally.  
"No problem Sweetie, you are always welcome here." Emmy brightened as Sally spoke the words, it seemed she was warming up to her.  
"Now, why don't you two finish your dinner. Don't forget to clean the kitchen, it was spotless when we left." Paul said standing up, Sally joined him as they left the room heading down the hall. Percy and Emmy made eye contact across the table, both smiling.

"I'm not letting you sleep on the couch, Emmy." Percy said as he dried the last of the bowls they had used. Emmy pulled the drain from the sink and looked up at him exasperated.  
"Percy, it's not that bad, it even looks comfortable." They had argued about this all during their dish washing, and Percy wouldn't budge.  
"Then you shouldn't have a problem with me sleeping on it. My bed's much too soft anyway." He smirked slightly seeing her throw up her hands, clearly irritated.  
"Fine, if you take up the couch I'll sleep on the floor." Percy scowled at this, that wasn't the plan.  
"I told you, you can sleep in my bed. The sheets are freshly washed, if that's what you're worried about." Emmy's cheeks turned a rosy pink, that wasn't the problem.  
"It's not that. It's just that." She took in a deep breath, "I don't know, it's just weird to think of sleeping there."  
"Then don't think about it."  
Emmy rolled her eyes seeing there was no way she would win this.  
"Fine, I'll sleep there. Happy?"  
Percy nodded clearly pleased with himself.

Emmy watched as Percy carefully covered the couch in a navy sheet, her arms full of blankets. "You sure about this?" She asked handing the blankets over to him.  
"Yes Emmy, I don't mind." He said unfolding the blankets and laying them on the couch. "Now, I'm going to go get dressed before you take over my room." Emmy rolled her eyes.  
"Okay, but don't take too long. I'm tired." He looked up at her, and smiled crookedly.  
"Now I'm going to take extra long." Emmy chuckled at him as he walked away. She sat down on the couch collecting her hands in her lap, waiting for him to return. Percy didn't take as long he had promised, a few minutes later he returned. He was wearing the same flannel pants he had worn on Christmas without a shirt.  
"Alright, the room and bathroom are all your's." She nodded standing.  
"'Kay." Emmy brushed past him about to exit the room before she turned around hearing Percy speak.  
"Good night, Emmy." He was still standing next to the couch.  
"Nighty McNight Night Fish Breath." She responded, earning a laugh from the boy. Giving a small wave she walked away, into Percy's room. It was clear he had done a rushed job of cleaning it. His desk was covered in random objects, that had probably been on the floor not to long ago. The floor of his closet wasn't visible because it was covered by dirty clothes. Emmy laughed softly thinking of him rushing around picking all of this up. She changed into purple pajama shorts and a baggy white shirt. Walking to the bathroom she brushed her teeth and pulled her hair up into a sloppy bun. If she slept with it down it would tangle so bad she would spend have to spend a half hour getting the snags out. Letting out a yawn she returned to Percy's room. She climbed into the bed smiling. The comforter was fluffy, green and soft. Emmy curled up on her side, her hands under the pillow to support her head. Taking in a deep breath her body relaxed. The bed smelled like Percy; slightly salty, like a sea breeze, and hay. Like the hay she had seen at pumpkin patches as a kid. The scent filling her head Emmy closed her eyes, falling asleep.


	15. Nightmares, Not Just For Sleeping

_The wind rushed past Emmy, causing her eyes to burn. Looking down she was surprised to see she was straddling a beautiful chestnut horse. At first sight it looked like any other horse, but on either side of her the horse sprouted wings. The pegasus looked exactly like she had envisioned Henry to look like. Looking back up she realized she was flying through the blue sky, not a single cloud in sight. Below her was what looked like a stable, with other pegasi grazing. Emmy also spotted what looked like fields that were dotted with little red specs. There was also a forest, and a large hill topped with a single pine tree. Based on the descriptions others had given her, she was pretty sure she was flying over Camp Half-Blood. Taking in the view she sighed, the place truly was breath-taking. Her thoughts were disrupted by a sudden movement below her. The pegasus was starting to buck. Emmy tried to grab a hold of its silky mane, but it was no use. Her grip slipped and she was falling to the Earth, air rushing past her. A blood curdling scream filled her ears, it took her a moment to realize it was hers._

Emmy sat straight up, gasping for breath. Looking around she forgot where she was for a moment, then remembered. She was in Percy's apartment, in his room. Pulling the blankets off of her she slung her legs over the side of the mattress. Resting her elbows on her knees she held her head in her hands. It had been over a three months since the last time she remembered dreaming, now all of a sudden she was having a night mare. Sucking in a breath she stood up. For some reason Percy didn't have a clock in his room, so she could only guess the time based on the amount of sun light filling the room. It seemed to be around eight. Emmy exited the room and went to the living room. Percy was still passed out on the couch, snoring lightly. Apparently Emmy was the only one up. She stood in front of Percy for a moment, debating whether to wake him up or not. _If he's not up in an hour I'll wake him up_. She told her self stepping away from him. Catching her bottom lip between her teeth she looked around, what was she going to do for an hour?

Emmy was curled up in the armchair next to the couch, a book open in her lap. She was reading _City of Ashes_, and had been absorbed into its world. So much so she didn't notice Sally walk into the living room. "Morning, Emmy." The girl jumped, nearly dropping the book.  
"Morning." She greeted a soft chuckle in her voice. Sally looked down at Percy, a smile on her face.  
"You are going to have to wake him up, he would sleep until noon if you let him." Sally spoke in a whisper and Emmy nodded glancing over at Percy, he was sprawled on the couch on his stomach.  
"I'll keep that in mind, but I think I'm going to enjoy the peace for a bit." Sally laughed quietly, trying not to wake Percy.  
"Okay. Paul and I are going out to breakfast, feel free to raid the fridge."  
Emmy nodded, "Alright thank-you." They exchanged waves and Sally returned to her room. Ten minutes later her and Paul walked by, each whispering farewells. Emmy returned to her book.

"Percy." Paul and Sally had left half an hour ago, and Emmy was tired of just sitting around. She was crouching next to the couch. "Percy." She repeated slightly louder, he responded with a grunt. "Come on Percy, it's almost 10." He rolled over his eyes still closed, but it was clear he was no longer sleeping. "Percy I know you're awake." Finally his eyes opened, giving Emmy a quick once over.  
"Your hair looks funny." It was still up in its sloppy bun, she had forgotten to take it down.  
"Good morning to you too. Now get up." She stood and stepped away, "And don't make me get the water."  
"It wouldn't affect me." He mumbled, "I would stay dry."  
"Would a fly swatter work?" At this Percy sat up and ran a hand through his hair.  
"Fine, fine. I'm up."  
"Good." Emmy smiled and walked away to the kitchen. "Do you guys have apple juice?"  
"Maybe? You're going to have to check." Emmy opened the fridge and moved some items around until she found the juice. Next she checked the cabinet for cereal. All she could find were plates and cups. "What ya doing?" Percy was standing behind her, resting his head on her shoulder.  
"Looking for cereal."  
"That's up there." He said pointing to the top of the cabinets lining the kitchen walls. Emmy looked up at them, her mouth making an O shape. There was no way she would be able to reach up there.  
"This place is made for tall people." The girl turned facing Percy, "Be a dear and grab me the Cheerios?" He nodded and reached up, not even having to go up on his tip-toes, and grabbed her the box. Wordlessly he handed it to her, she took it and walked over to the cupboard pulling a bowl out. Carefully she poured a decent amount of Cheerios into it. Percy was about to grab the milk for her when he heard the familiar sound of liquid pouring. Curious he turned to see her holding the apple juice over the Cheerios.  
"What the crap are you doing?"  
"Making cereal." Emmy said looking over her shoulder at him.  
"You don't put apple juice on cereal."  
"Who said that was a rule?" She grabbed a spoon and began to eat her concoction.  
"You're such a weirdo." He said grabbing Coco Puffs off the cupboard. "Besides, what's wrong with milk?"  
"Milk is gross."  
"What's wrong with you?" Percy asked with a slight gasp, but his white teeth were flashing.  
"What's wrong with you?" She returned the phrase looking at him. He was pouring chocolate milk over the Coco puffs. "Do you know how unhealthy that is?"  
"Yes, and I don't care." The smiled at each other, eating their breakfast.

Emmy gently placed her empty bowl and spoon into the sink, Percy standing behind her. "So, when do you want to head back today?" He asked returning to the living room.  
"Uh, I don't know. I have some homework that's due when school starts again, and I haven't even started." She followed him into the common room plopping down onto the couch. Percy laughed hearing her answer and sat down next to her.  
"How about we start over there in an hour?"  
"Sounds alright to me." Percy picked up the remote and turned on the TV. Emmy curled up next to him, her soft hair tickling his neck.

Emmy stepped out of the apartment, her backpack over her shoulder. She had changed into jeans and a over sized sweater with the Hogwarts crest printed on it. Taking in a breath of cool air she turned seeing Percy locking the door. "Did you leave a note in case Paul and Sally get back early?" It felt weird to call them by their first names, but they had insisted she do so. The boy nodded, his dark hair bouncing. He too had changed, into black basketball shorts and a white shirt just tight enough to show his muscular arms.  
"Yep, though I don't think I should be gone too long." He pocketed the keys and gestured for her to go down the stairs first. She did so, her hand grazing the rail as she descended. They walked the New York streets close together. Their breath fogged up the air around them as they breathed, this always made Emmy feel like a dragon.

"I guess this is my stop." They stood in front of her building, facing each other. Emmy slid her backpack off her should and dug throw it searching for her keys.  
"So it is." Percy said, a smirk on his face. Emmy rolled her eyes and him and pulled out her illusive keys.  
"See you later Fish Breath." She gave him a one-armed hug and a quick peck on the lips.  
"Talk to you later." He responded returning the hug. With a wave he turned, walking away. Emmy climbed her steps and entered her home.

"Gods, I hate math." Emmy was sitting on her bed, a text-book open in front of her. Absent mindedly she chewed the end of her pencil, trying to figure out what the crap was on the paper. Her thoughts were disrupted by her door flying open. In the space stood Annabeth, looking frantic. Her blonde hair was falling out of its usual pony tail, and her gray eyes were wide. "Emmy, we need to go." Her voice had an eerie calm to it, when she was clearly freaking out.  
"Go where?" Emmy felt her heart race quicken, what on Earth could freak the girl out this much?  
"There is no time to explain. Just grab what you need most and meet me down stairs." She didn't even wait for a reply, she just left with a slam of the door. Emmy stared where the girl had just stood. What was going on? Though, something in Annabeth's voice told her that she should do as told. Looking around her room she tried to figure out what she needed. She ended up holding her saxophone case and the back pack that still had over night things in it. Opening her door she looked out into the hall way, no one was there. Emmy rushed downstairs to the building's common area. Annabeth stood in the middle, holding nothing but a threatening looking bronze knife.  
"Ready?"  
"What's going on?" She never got an answer. The door burst open, and the girls turned to it with a gasp. The figure in the door way looked normal at first, but upon further inspection Emmy saw there was something wrong with the girl. She was awfully pale, and her eyes were an unnatural red. There was also the fact that one of her legs looked like that of a donkeys, while the other was solid bronze. In one swift movement Annabeth threw the knife, and it buried its self into the creature's chest. It let out a horrible cry before dissolving into gold dust. Emmy felt her eyes widen, but she didn't make a sound. Annabeth picked her knife out of the pile of dist and turned back to Emmy. "Alright, let's go."  
"Go where?"  
"To Camp Half-Blood of course."


	16. Guess Whos Back

"Camp Half-Blood?" Emmy asked, her voice a few octaves higher than normal.  
"Yes. Now we really should be going, there will be more where that came from." Annabeth said gesturing to the pile of dust. Swallowing nervously Emmy nodded, adjusting her back pack.  
"Okay, let's go." Annabeth smiled at her and lead the way out of the building. After exiting the structure they began to move at a brisk pace, trying not to draw attention. They made it to the end of the block before they were stopped by a scream. Not a human scream, but one that was straight out of a horror film. The sound resembled that of a screeching goat. It belonged to the creature that launched its self at Emmy, latching onto her back. The girl let out a startled yelp. She hadn't seen the creature before, it had looked like any normal teenage girl. But, now that it was on her back, she could see that was the total opposite of what this was. It looked like the first monster, but this time Emmy saw fangs out of the corner of her eye. It seemed she was being attacked by a Greek vampire. She felt, rather than told, her body thrust forward, bending at the waist. The force of her sudden movement threw the monster off her back. The monster rolled with grace and stood up. It let out a loud hiss, baring it's fangs. Annabeth cursed in a language unfamiliar to Emmy, but for some reason Emmy was still able to understand it. Emmy fell backwards as the monster lunged again, it landed on her chest pinning her down. The weight of the creature knocked out her breath. With her arms being held down on either side of her all she could do was thrash back and forth. Where was Annabeth? The question was answered by another hideous scream, and gold dust raining down.  
"Emmy!" The girl's yell was almost drowned out by the sound of the monster laughing at Emmy.  
"Aren't you a pretty little thing? Shame to waste it." Emmy once again began to thrash, her head knocking from side to side. "Stop moving." It croaked out, reaching a talon-nailed hand out pushing down on her forehead. Roughly it pushed Emmy's head to the side, her neck craned. Emmy swallowed looking straight into the monster's eyes, her breathing shallow. The creature looked down at her with a smile, its tongue flicking over its fangs. "You're going to taste great."  
Emmy only had time to register her pain and the shrill sound of her own scream before she passed out.

* * *

Percy knocked on Emmy's door. The day before he had dropped Emmy off here. Now he was back because he knew they both had the same shift at the diner, and he thought it would be cool to walk together. After a few minutes there was no answer, not ready to give up he rang the door bell. From the other side he heard a series of bangs followed by a muffled curse. He could easily tell the voice didn't belong to either Annabeth or Emmy. The door swung open revealing familiar blue eyes and tan skin. "You again." Jade said looking him up and down. She retreated back into the house, leaving Percy on the porch.  
"Nice to see you too Jade." He said with fake cheer as he entered the house. In the middle of the room was a pile of dust, gold dust. He froze looking at it, gold dust meant monsters.  
"They're not here by the way. Disappeared yesterday. Left a not about camp or something, not that it makes any sense. I mean camp? In January? They also left this pile of dust. Now I have to clean it up before the landlord shows up. Where do you even get that much dust?" Percy was hardly paying attention as her rant continued, but one bit of information stuck out to him.  
"Camp? Can I see that note."  
"Sure, though it's not much use. They didn't say what camp, and like I said it's January. It was probably just a lame excuse they came up with last-minute." As she spoke she walked to the kitchen, she returned with a small slip of paper in her hand. Percy took it and scanned over it. The scrap of paper was scribbled across in familiar messy handwriting, Annabeth had written it, and in a hurry.  
"Thanks Jade, but I have to go." He backed up a few steps then broke out into a run.  
"Everyone around here is freaking weird." Jade said with a sigh. "Now, where is that vacuum?"

Percy hailed a cab, his panic slowly growing. What had happened? The gold dust clearly meant monster, but monster sightings were on the decline. All their known enemies had been defeated, and the monsters no longer worked together. If there was an attack wouldn't it be on Annabeth? Why would she take Emmy with her? He climbed into the taxi hardly paying attention to the driver. "Where to?" Percy looked up making eye contact with the driver through the mirror. The attractiveness of the women surprised him, but it wasn't something he could focus on at the moment. Absentmindedly he told her the address to camp, which to any mortal was in the middle of no where. The driver nodded and took off.

The drive was excruciatingly long, but when they finally reached the destination Percy realized he didn't have any cash. He could just run for it, but then he would feel bad. Though you think after you save the world a few times it would earn you some free taxi rides. Awkwardly he cleared his throat as they came to a stop. "Um, I don't have any cash on me." He looked into the rear view mirror nervously. The women shot him an aggravated look.  
"That's too bad." Suddenly focusing Percy sat up straight as the women drew out her S's, like a snake. "I was hoping to get some cash off you, before I killed you." Percy didn't feel bad about not having cash any more.

Without another thought he opened the car door and bolted. If he could run fast enough he could make it to camp safely. Risking a glance back he was relieved to see the monster struggling to exit the yellow vehicle. His head turned back around just in time to keep him from running into Thalia's tree. A group of campers ran by him, probably to go handle the monster he just lead straight to camp.

Once inside the borders Percy looked around, where ever Emmy was she was probably with Annabeth. He ran to the nearest camper, a tall girl with black hair. "Do you know where Annabeth is?" The words left his mouth in a quick gasp.  
"Infirmary." The reply was short and with a slight annoyed edge. Percy, not noticing, nodded his thanks and took off running again.

The son of the sea burst though the doors. Inside he found a small group gathered around one bed, all the rest were empty. A familiar blonde head stuck out from the rest. Percy walked up to the group trying to see what, or who, they were looking at. Before he could the blonde head turned, looking at him with sharp gray eyes. "Percy, she's going to be okay." In the center lay Emmy. Her black hair fanned out on the pillow behind her, her eyes were closed and her arms lay perfectly straight by her sides. On her neck there were two clear puncture marks, outlined in a sickly green color. A lump grew in Percy's throat as he looked down at her.  
"What happened?"  
"She was bitten by an Empousai, but I was able to get here in time that the venom didn't take full effect."  
"But, I thought they only attacked men."  
"Usually that's true, I don't know why this one went after Emmy." Percy was so busy trying to figure out what happened that he didn't notice when Emmy's eyes opened. They instantly widened as she looked around.  
"Guys," Annabeth and Percy both looked down at her in surprise. "Where the crap am I?"  
A slight smile broke across Percy's face, partly because she was talking and partly because she was acting like good old Emmy. "Emmy, welcome to Camp-Half Blood."


	17. Welcome to Camp

"So, this is what Camp-half blood looks like." Emmy said looking around her. At that moment a child of Apollo appeared looking down at Emmy with a smile.  
"So you're up." The blonde boy said. "I'm glad the poison didn't seem to affect you too much, but you're puncture wounds are going to scar." He said pushing her hair back, and holding a mirror up for her to see.  
"So I'm going to spend the rest of my life looking like a vampire victim?" Emmy asked looking in the mirror. "Sweet." Percy chuckled softly, seeing Emmy was acting like she normally did. "Where is my sweater?" Emmy said suddenly realizing she was wearing a bright orange shirt. It had a symbol on it, but she couldn't make it out at the moment. "And who changed me? Wait, I don't want to know." She said, her voice quickening.  
"Whoa there Emmy." Percy said looking down at her. "You're going into shock."  
"I just want to make sure the sweater isn't ruined. I love that thing."  
"It's okay, we will get someone to wash the blood out." The Apollo kid said with a slight smirk. "And the girls changed your clothes." By then Annabeth had already disappeared, she left as soon as she was sure Emmy was alright.

Emmy and Percy exited the infirmary 10 minutes later. Her neck had a thick white bandage covering her wound. They had given her a white sweatshirt with a the Camp Half-Blood logo on it in orange, and jeans, which fit her perfectly. How they managed that, she didn't know. "So, this is Camp." Emmy said looking around. The whole place had a light layer of snow, giving it a unique beauty.  
"Yep, would you like a tour?" Percy asked her, with a smile. He was just so relieved to see her all right. This morning he had thought the worst, that monsters had gotten her. Now she was standing right next to him, a smile on her face. Emmy reached over grabbing his hand. He looked down at it, he didn't really mind but it reminded him that everyone at Camp didn't know yet. Didn't know that him and Annabeth had called it quits.  
"I would love that." Emmy said once again looking at her surroundings.

"And this is the Big House." Percy said dramatically gesturing towards the blue building. He had already shown her most of the camp; the arena, the lake, the forest, the cabins and the strawberry fields. Standing on the house's porch was something Emmy had never seen before. From afar he looked like a horse with a weirdly shaped head, but up close she could see that the horse had the abdomen and head of a man.  
"Is that a centaur?" Emmy asked astounded.  
"Yep, and his name is Chiron." Percy said starting towards the house. Emmy had to almost jog to keep up with him. He was just so tall, and her legs were so short.  
"Percy," Chiron said in greeting as they approached. "I wasn't expecting you here until the summer. Does your mom know you are here?" Percy used his palm to cover his face.  
"Gods, no. I completely forgot. I need to Iris message her." He turned to Emmy. "Will you be okay here for a bit? I really need to talk to her."  
"Of course, she needs to know." Emmy said with a nod. "Just don't take too long." Her smile widened as he ran off, stopping random Demi-Gods and asking them for something called a Drachma.  
"So, Emmy is it?" The girl nodded, causing her black curls to bounce. "Annabeth told me all about how you got here, and your, um, relationship with Percy." Emmy's eyes widened and her face grew even paler than usual.  
"Did she?"  
"Yes, but we don't need to talk about that now. Was everything about being a demi-god explained to you?"  
Emmy nodded, "Though they really didn't need to, my mother explained it to me when I was a child."  
Chiron's eyebrow raised. "Your mother?"  
"Yes, she was a child of Demeter. She told me all about this place."  
Now Chiron looked completely shocked. "Your mother was a demi-god?"  
"Yep, that's why I don't quite understand why I'm here. What would monsters want with a granddaughter of a god?"  
"But Emmy, you were scouted out as a half-blood. That's why Annabeth was assigned to you. It was her job to make sure you made it to camp safely."  
Emmy's face sudden cleared with realization. "So, my mother and some god shacked up, making me."  
Chiron smiled for the first time since Percy left. "I wouldn't quite say it that way, but yes."  
"So, I'm a Three-Quarter-Blood?"  
"I guess it could be put that way." Suddenly his eyes became distant, like he was looking far away. "But this is quite unexpected. A god hasn't produced a child with a demi-god in almost a thousand years. No wonder the monsters were after you."  
Percy ran up to them, "I'm back." Emmy looked up at him with a face that said, 'Help me.' Chiron lost the faraway look and smiled down at them.  
"Percy you're back. Now I must sound the horn, it's dinner time."  
Percy nodded like what the man just said made perfect sense. "Okay, I'll show Emmy the way." He grabbed her hand and lead her away.

They walked down a path, which many other campers were walking on. Suddenly Emmy's face lit up, "Griff." She yelled and one of the campers in front of them turned around. He was tall, even taller than Percy. His eyes were a blue that could sometimes be confused with grey. His hair was a sandy blonde, and it stuck up in the front, like he had ran a light gel through it. His nose was slightly over average in size, but it fit his features and the freckles that ran across it. Emmy sprinted towards him, and he stood there like he couldn't believe she was there.  
"Emms!" He called out just before she reached him and almost knocked him over with a hug. He returned it and lifted her up, spinning her around. Percy watched all of this, with the most confused look on his face. He walked up to the pair and just looked back and forth between them. Once separated the two began to talk quickly, Percy not able to make out what they were saying. He tapped Emmy lightly on the shoulder getting her attention back. "Emmy, who's this?" He couldn't help but feel a slight jealousy. As a fellow guy Percy couldn't help but admit the attractiveness of this, 'Griff.' And Percy wanted to know why he was hugging his girlfriend.


	18. Italian Night

Emmy turned feeling the rhythmic tap on her shoulder. Her white teeth flashed in the most genuine smile Percy had seen from her in awhile.  
"This is Griffyn Philia. A childhood friend, we grew up together."  
Griff held out his hand towards Percy, though Griff knew exactly who he was. Percy shook the hand, giving a tight smile.  
"And Griff this is Percy, my, um, boyfriend." Percy's smile lightened up a bit hearing her say it.  
"Oh, I know who he is. But I thought he was dating Annabeth."  
"It's complicated." Emmy said simply after a short awkward silence. "Anyway, what are you doing here? The last time I saw you was when we were 14 and you moved away."  
"This is where I moved to. My mom shipped me up once the monsters got really bad." The more Griff talked the more Percy picked up on his accent, the same one Emmy had. Once again he looked the boy up and down.  
"We can catch up later." He said before Emmy could reply. "We're going to be late for dinner." Emmy looked around, they had fallen behind the mass of campers who were entering the dining pavilion.  
"Well can't we just sit at the same table?"  
"That's not exactly how it works." Percy explained and started walking towards the eating area, "Everyone sits with their cabin. Until you are claimed you will sit with the Hermes kids. From there a pair of twins named Travis and Connor will show you the ropes." Emmy nodded logging all this into her memory. "They will be sitting at the table with the most kids." Even though just a few years ago he had made them promise to claim their children, they weren't always very thorough. This left many demi-gods still unclaimed, but there wasn't as many as before.  
"Hermes table, Travis and Connor. Got it." By this time they had arrived at the pavilion. Griff waved goodbye and headed off to his table while Emmy gave Percy a quick peck on the cheek before walking away. "See you later Fish Breath." She called backed to him. Percy's face was red when he turned around, almost walking straight into Nico.  
"Fish Breath, huh?"  
"If you ever repeat that I will drown you. Slowly. When nobody is watching." Nico raised his hands in mock surrender.  
"Okay, okay. I got it. Fish Breath." Nico broke into a dead run, Percy chasing behind him.  
"Now, now campers please have a seat." A loud commanding voice called from the front. Percy shot Nico one last glare before going to his table, where he sat all alone.

Emmy walked over to the large table, not sure what to do with herself. There was so many people, almost all of them looking at her. She was about to take a seat towards the middle of the table before a pair of boys waved her over. They were almost identical, which probably meant they were Travis and Connor. Emmy walked towards them, a friendly smile displayed. "Hi, you must be Travis and Connor."  
"Actually we prefer Connor and Travis." One spoke up returning her smile.  
"No we don't, Travis and Connor is in chronological order." The other said giving his brother a slight glare.  
"But Connor and Travis is in alphabetical order. Which makes much more sense than chronological." They continued this bickering for a few more minutes, neither of them backing down.  
"I'm Emmy by the way." The girl spoke up, though she was entertained by them, she felt someone else had to put a stop to it, or they would go on forever. "And I'm guessing you're Travis." She said pointing to the one rooting for Travis first. "Leaving you to be Connor." The boys nodded, like they had completely forgotten they were having a heated argument a few moments ago. "You're correct." They said in unison, which would normally seem weird, but Emmy thought doing so suited them. "And you're Percy's new lady friend." Travis said bluntly.  
"I... guess you could put it that way" Emmy replied with hesitation.  
"We will," they said in unison.  
Emmy opened her mouth to reply, but didn't have one. They just stared at her, with faux-innocence. Emmy, trying to avoid how awkward she now felt, looked around. The first thing she saw was Percy sitting alone at his table. He didn't look sad exactly, just bored.  
"Why does he have to sit alone?" She asked the twins, who were still staring at her like creepers.  
"Who, Percy?" Connor asked not looking away from her.  
"Yeah."  
"He's the only kid of Great-Uncle Poseidon, meaning the only kid to sit at the table."  
"That doesn't seem fair."  
"No one said it was," Travis and Connor replied simultaneously, not breaking their stare.  
"Well, it was nice meeting you two. You're kind of creepy, but you might be tolerable," Was how she said goodbye as she stood.  
"Where are you going?" Travis asked, alone this time.  
"I'm just going to protest peacefully," Emmy said with a grin, before turning to walk away.  
"I think we might be able to put up with her," Connor said to Travis, who nodded in agreement.

The whole pavilion full of kids looked towards Emmy as she walked through. Though, she didn't let that faze her. She walked with confidence, not even looking to the side. Percy looked up as she sat down in front of him. "You're not supposed to do that," He said with a crooked grin.  
"We're not supposed to do a lot of things Percy, like climb a fire escape. But that didn't stop you did it?"  
Percy chuckled softly, "But that was different. You needed me."  
"Says who? And you needed me to cure your boredom."

Everyone was still looking at them. Much whispering was going on, especially from the Athena and Aphrodite cabins. "Who does she think she is?" "What does he see in her?" "Shes a vampire. Just look at her neck and how pale she is." "Why did he choose her and not me?" Both Percy and Emmy ignored what they heard around them, not caring what others thought.

"Okay, it is now time for everyone to get food." Mr. D said boredly, "The Nymphs are on their way," Emmy gave Percy a confused look,  
"Nymphs?"  
"To put it rudely, servants of the gods, although that's not the politically correct term."  
Emmy nodded and watched as women flooded out of the kitchen doors. Though if you looked closer there was something about each of them that made them not quite human. One's skin had a slight green tint to it, and another had pointed ears that looked strangely like leaves. Emmy couldn't help but think how beautiful they were. "Wow." She whispered, earning a smile from Percy.  
"Okay, just grab what you want from the platter when they get here." Emmy nodded determined not to make a fool of herself by dropping anything.

The Nymphs returned to the kitchen once everyone had food. That night's special was Italian so everyone had spaghetti with salad. Emmy was about to take a bite when Percy stopped her quietly. "Wait, we have to do something first." He stood grabbing his plate, and flicked his head to the side as a sign for her to follow. Gingerly she grabbed her plate and walked behind him. Everyone seemed to be lining up, the end being the fireplace in the middle. Emmy hadn't noticed it much before, but it must be important. It began to smoke heavily, and each camper seemed to stop in front of the flames a few seconds. "Their sacrificing to the gods." Percy said behind his shoulder to her. "We do it every night. Just scrape a bit of your food off into the flames and you're good." Emmy nodded, sounds easy enough.

The line moved relatively quickly and soon Emmy and Percy were at the front. Percy skillfully scooped food into the flames and looked back at Emmy before leaving to return to the table. She took her fork and twirled some noodles onto it. _Hi, I'm, um, new to this so I don't really know what to say. But Dad? If you could claim me soon, that would be nice._ She let the noodles drop into the fire, and it produced a surprisingly delightful smell. Having done that without any problems she tried to get back to the table as soon as possible. The table was in sight and Emmy flashed Percy a smile before there was a sudden pressure behind her. She fell forward, landing directly on her plate. Most of the pavilion started laughing.  
"Oops, sorry 'bout that Hun." Said a sickly sweet voice behind her. Emmy sat back up turning over to see a blonde girl looking down at her. "But you really should watch where you're going."


	19. Rhymes with Witch

"Who are you?" Emmy demanded, starting to get angry. The girl had clearly pushed her, not accidentally bumped into her.  
"The name's Cynthia Smothers, and that was for breaking my sister's heart." Emmy just stared up at the girl in disbelief.  
"You've got to be kidding me." Emmy muttered as she lifted herself off of the floor. The white sweatshirt loaned to her was now completely ruined, a giant stain ran down the front. Her dark hair had noodles hanging loosely in it, she did her best to pick them out. "I would appreciate it if you left me alone from now on. I don't know what you heard, but I did not break Annabeth's heart. Her and Percy broke up, I had nothing to do with it. Now if you would excuse me," Emmy tried to push past the girl, only to be blocked by the other girl.  
"Percy and Annabeth wouldn't have broken up. You must have filled his head with lies." Emmy gave a sigh, this girl clearly wasn't going to give up. The who pavilion struggled to hear their words.  
"Look, I really don't want to talk about this with you. You obviously don't care what I'm going to say and don't have the intelligence to comprehend it." Emmy knew the girl was a child of Athena, so she probably did, but it sounded insulting. The small gasp from the crowd enforced this. Emmy once again tried to be the better person and walk away. Cynthia stuck her foot out, causing Emmy to fall once again. Percy stood from his seat, should he do something? His instincts told him to let her figure it out, he didn't want to get into the middle of that. He sat back down, watching them nervously.

Emmy glared at the girl in front of her. "Look, Ms. Prissy, I don't give a damn what you think, but you better get out of my way."  
"What are you going to do? Steal my guy?" Emmy glared at the girl, not remembering the last time she had been this angry. Suddenly Cynthia's face fell, her brow beginning to sweat. "What are you doing to me? Why is it so hot?" Her skin started to steadily grow pink. Emmy's eyes widened and the pavilion gasped. "I... I didn't mean to." Emmy didn't even knew what had happened, but she felt like she had done it. Cynthia looked at her arms in disbelief. "It's a sunburn." She said the last word in almost a whisper. Emmy looked down as her own skin began to grow a bright gold. "She's a daughter of Apollo!" A random camper shouted. Above her head there was a symbol slowly dissipating into the air. It was the same golden hue illuminating her skin and in the shape of a lyre.  
Emmy just stared speechless, no longer hearing anyone around her.

A hand gently squeezed her shoulder, bringing Emmy back to reality. Chiron stood over her, a kind expression on his warm face. "Let's get you to the Big House." She nodded silently and Chiron looked over to Cynthia, Annabeth standing at her elbow. "Annabeth, get her some aloe please. If you don't have any the infirmary should have some. But be careful of the Apollo kids." Annabeth nodded and started to drag Cynthia away. The girl started to yell, "Make sure you punish her Chiron! She could have cooked me!" Emmy rolled her eyes and carefully stood up. For some reason she felt extremely drained, even her arms were heavy. "Come along now." Chiron said softly grabbing her elbow. A crowd had built around them, but it parted letting Chiron through. Once again Emmy felt the familiar sensation of people's eyes on her. "Wait!" Emmy paused hearing his voice.  
"Percy?" Just as she called out his name he burst through the wall of campers. He walked up beside them, and Chiron only glanced in his direction. The three walked towards the Big House, only the sound of Mr. D directing campers behind them.

"Okay Emmy, we need to talk about some things." Chiron said as they climbed onto the porch. Emmy's nerves increased. "First, you have to sit at your own table. I let it slide today because the Hermes table was already pretty crowded and you're new. Though someone should have told you it was against the rules." He shot a meaningful glance in Percy's direction.  
"Hey, I tried to tell her. She just decided not to listen to me." Chiron chuckled and looked back at Emmy who simply shrugged.  
"Second, you can't just go burning campers. She may have antagonized you, but-"  
"It was a total accident. I didn't know I was doing it!" Emmy defended herself.  
"I know that Emmy, but if I don't punish you then everyone will think they can just harm each other at will. We definitely don't want that, especially with some of our Ares campers." Emmy and Percy nodded with understanding. "Okay, so what's my punishment?"  
"Tomorrow you can help the Hermes cabin clean up for inspection. Then help with dishes after dinner."  
Percy sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Tough break, but I think I heard Leo complaining about dish duty. Something about an explosion." Emmy's eyes widened. She had to do the dishes with someone who caused an explosion? She gulped, but didn't want to make it worse so accepted it with a nod. "Just find Travis or Connor tomorrow to receive your chore, and I'm sure Percy can show you where to go for the dishes. He's done them plenty of times. Now you two head out before you miss campfire."  
"Would hate for that to happen." Percy whispered sarcastically as he grabbed Emmy's hand and lead her away.

The campfire was what Emmy expected it would be, but still different. First, the fire changed colors, which fascinated her to no end. She spent most of the time watching the bright pink flames change to yellow and back. Percy said it had to do with the camper's moods, which Emmy thought made it even cooler. They sang songs, ones that were a familiar tune to her but the lyrics were different. She would have to work on that, but in the meantime she just hummed along. Once it was over everyone filed out, Percy casually draping his arm over Emmy's shoulders.

"Welcome to the Apollo cabin." Percy made a grand gesture towards the golden structure. The sun had already set, but Emmy could tell it would be hard to look at during the day. Butterflies flew around in her stomach, what if they didn't like her? It felt so juvenile to worry about something like that, but it was a real concern. She felt like she had already angered enough people at this camp, maybe the Apollo campers were included in that group. Percy patted her shoulder comfortingly, "Don't worry, they'll love you. Your stuff should already be in there. Just, be careful of Levi. He can be a bit... Overwhelming." Emmy was about to ask him what that meant when the cabin door burst open. In the doorway stood a tall, tan, and blonde teenaged guy. He had a sparkling smile that could belong to any actor, and his blue eyes almost glew. "My my, if it isn't the two love birds." He crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. "Percy, I'm going to have to ask for my sister now. But feel free to kiss good night, I don't mind," The whole time he keep his mocking smile. Percy's cheeks reddened slightly as he leaned over and kissed her cheek, "Good night Emmy. And good luck." Before she could reply he ran off to his cabin. Emmy watched him go before turning to the boy in the doorway. "Name's Levi by the way. Welcome to the Apollo Cabin."


End file.
